Homestead Planning

10 Things To Start Preparing For Winter

September 17, 2023 by Leigh 8 Comments

I know, I know! It’s only September. BUT you can never be too prepared, especially when you have lives depending on you. Here in north Georgia, it’s 90*+ and it feels like winter is forever away, but trust me when I tell you, it’s all down hill from here. The leaves are already starting to fall, albeit one at a time. The mornings are cooler and though it’s still hot, it’s not as unbearable. So I figured I would talk about the things we are doing now, to prepare for winter.

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Preparing For Winter Is Easy…When You Do It Early

First thing is first, go ahead and make a list of all the things you think you’ll need. Then check it against my list and maybe google some other blogs like Southern Dreams Homestead, The Homesteading RD or The Farmer’s Lamp to help give you a few more ideas. Below is simply part of my list that I think everyone could benefit from.

The List

Firewood!-Seriously, if you haven’t started sourcing, chopping or collecting firewood, stop everything and go do it right now. Like, now. If you haven’t been able to get around to it, make the time. You still have some time to get a few cords chopped and drying if you make it a priority. Also, check around with neighbors or even different market places. You may find that someone has a tree they need cut and hauled away. Easy firewood. You can find a small electric log splitter less than $300 or even a big gas powered one for less than $1,500

I’m going to throw candles in here too. A small tea light candle can heat a small room for several hours. It can even cook food when placed in terracotta pots. So maybe having a million of these little buggers around would be a good idea too.

Pantry Restock– I go through my canning inventory sheets and check it against my shelves in the basement. I restock our pantry/ food storage room quarterly. That means that I go through and find all the things we have used or are running low on and make a run to the store. This tends to be a big haul for us and has things like toilet paper, laundry detergent, etc. But you don’t want to find out in the middle of a snow storm that you’re out of toilet paper. If you don’t have a place to store it, check out Home Depot for wire shelves or check out my post on our shelves.

Canning– The entire month of September, I am canning the last bit of the summer garden and soups. I will put up about 300qts and 200pts of soup to prepare for winter. The way I see it, if the power goes out, I can still heat soup on my wood stove. If you haven’t already, check out The Canning Diva’s cookbook. She has a ton of amazing soups. This book is my holy grail for soup season.

Coffee– If you are a coffee drinker, go ahead and can several quarts of coffee. I know, it sounds crazy, but when our power went out last year, guess who didn’t have coffee? So yea, can a couple quarts. I waterbath can my quarts for 20 minutes. Now, I can just heat it in a pot on the stove. I’ve also got a great recipe for homemade creamer too.

Extra Blankets– We have a million blankets and every year, I am tempted to throw out half of them. BUT it’s nice having the ability to close off rooms, layer up, or even insulate freezers if necessary. Not to mention if livestock needs to come inside because it’s freezing or they are injured.

Finn had to come inside when he busted his shoulder.

Portable Battery Banks– We have a bunch of these guys around and they are really handy to have. When the power goes out and the boys last device is dead, this thing saves my sanity. Plus, we can hook it up to our kitchen radio and still have news updates and more.

Animal Feed– This isn’t just Fido’s dog food. If you have any kind of livestock, now is the time to make sure you are sourcing enough for winter. For us, that means finding enough hay to get through the winter. It also means sourcing grain, alfalfa pellets, and other miscellaneous food stuffs they need.

Animal Bedding– Don’t forget their bedding! While it doesn’t get super cold in Georgia, it does still get cold. And wet. So make sure that you’ve got some form of bedding for them. We use the deep litter method and pine shavings. The deep litter method really helps insulate them in winter and helps keep them off the cold ground. We also spread Diatomaceous Earth between layers to help keep down bugs. Again, it doesn’t get super cold here so winter Lice/Mite infestations happen. The great thing about it is we can use all that bedding as compost in the spring!

Emergency Medicines/ First Aid– This looks different from homestead to homestead, but having the ability to treat various illnesses or injuries is extremely important. I talked about the basics needed to care for goats but you also need to include yourself here. Sometimes band aids just aren’t going to cut it. You may need sutures, super glue, etc to close lacerations. Or when you’re animal suddenly develops pneumonia, having the ability to treat that without calling for a vet is a huge time and money saver.

Something to alleviate boredom– It’s true. The hustle and bustle of summer makes way for a slower winter. Maybe not 100% of the time, but more often than not, the weather keeps us inside. Extreme weather could keep us inside for days. I am a bookworm and have at least twenty books on standby waiting to be read. But my boys and Jared are not so lucky. We have games, puzzles, cards and more. They still refuse to let me read, but at least they have something to do.

Preparing For Winter

I hope this helps you start preparing for winter at least a little bit. This is not an exhaustive list by any means, but it is a start. Only you know what you are going to need to get through the winter. And while this may be your first winter on a homestead, it’s not your first winter. So get a list going and start stocking up!

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Is Homesteading Farming?

September 8, 2023 by Leigh Leave a Comment

Comparing homesteading and farming is like comparing apples to oranges. They are both fruit but very different. That’s not to say you can’t do both, but I think the biggest difference is intent behind the action. It’s like being a carpenter for work vs being good at building things. It can be vastly different but could easily turn into the other. So now that I’ve muddied the waters, let’s clear up the question: is homesteading farming?

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Homesteading Vs Farming

The definition of homesteading is a lifestyle of self sufficiency. A farm is a business, regardless of size. So while they are very similar they are not the same. A homestead can earn an income and then create a business but that was not the intent behind starting a homestead.

What Is A Homestead?

A homestead is your ability to live in a self sufficient way. While your homestead can make money, that is not the purpose of the homestead. The purpose is to try to do as much for yourself and family as possible. For some people this looks like a farm. For others, it’s growing their tomato sauce for the year. The rest of us fall somewhere in the middle.

What Is A Farm?

A farm is where you have created a business that you use your land to do. For example: tomato farm, chicken farm, beef farm, etc. These can be huge 200+ acre operations or 10 acre orchards. It really doesn’t matter. A farm could have multiple revenue sources like being a egg producer and tomato farm or have cattle, swine and poultry all on the same farm. But the entire purpose behind the endeavor is to make money.

So What’s The Difference?

I think the biggest difference is the intent. To give you my personal example, we homestead. But the homestead does generate a small income from the things the homestead produces for self sustainability. We want to be self sustaining with our dairy intake. That means that we have chickens for eggs and goats for milk.

We sell extra eggs or we will hatch chicks and keep or sell those chicks. That helps produce a small income for the homestead.

To get milk and cheese, we breed our girls. This results in goat kids that we need to do something with. Most of the time, we are able to sell the kids but when we can’t, they go to freezer camp.

Making The Choice Between Homesteading And Farming

Do you HAVE to make a choice between homesteading and farming? Meh. I think it would be wise to make decisions based on the possibility of turning into a farm. But I don’t think you need to go out and buy the barn, tractor, etc. I think you can slowly let your homestead evolve into a farm if that is something you are interested in.

Finding Business Opportunities… Later

I have talked in depth about making a plan for your homestead in multiple posts because I truly believe that it is important. And if your dream is to retire from your job and homestead full time, you need to really look into how you’re going to earn an income. But you don’t have to do it right now. Especially when you are still learning how to do this homestead thing.

I am a big believer in learning how to do something really well first, then learn how to sell it. Sure, while you’re learning you can start thinking about how to sell it. But you don’t want to sell a product until you know as much as possible about it.

A Word Of Caution With Farming

Unless you were born into a farming lifestyle, I would caution you about getting into farming. The reason I say that is because if you are not well versed in how to raise meat chickens, you may not do it in the most profitable way. Or you may spend thousands of dollars getting set up to sell meat chickens, only to realize that you absolutely HATE farming meat chickens.

Instead, I suggest getting started with homesteading. Learning what you like and don’t like on a much smaller scale before jumping in with both feet.

For us, if we had gone with our original plan, which was selling rabbits, we would have operated in the red for many years before turning even a small profit. That’s not good business.

I’m not saying don’t do it. But I am saying to consider all the angles before jumping in with both feet.

Is Homesteading Farming?

At its core, no. Homesteading is about learning how to be self sufficient and if you can turn a profit, great. But don’t let that discourage you! There are a ton of homesteaders out there that quit their 9-5 and focus only on the land. But they are doing it in a way that takes care of them first and profit second.

We are setting up our greenhouse to have a place to start seedlings. But we can very easily start more and more seedlings and sell those. That brings in an income for something we are doing anyways. That’s how we are going to pay off debt and leave the rat race.

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Ways To Make Money As A New Homesteader

August 26, 2023 by Leigh Leave a Comment

When you are looking to start your homestead, you may be looking for ways to bring in an income. There are tons of ways to make money on a homestead that all depend on your abilities and skill sets. If you are unskilled at growing food, maybe setting up your entire homestead with that as the goal isn’t a great idea. That doesn’t mean that you can’t do it! But there are some things that you should consider before quitting your job and moving to the country. Below I am going to go over some considerations and ways to make money as a new homesteader

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Considerations For Making Money As A New Homesteader

Before you jump in to your homestead, buy the first animal, or drop a ton of money on seeds, you should take some time to figure everything out first. It would suck for you waste a ton of money on seed starts and hate gardening. Or realize there is very little profit in raising goats.

Profitability

This is literally the most important part of making money as a new homesteader. We all want to quit the rat race, but if there is no profit in what you are doing? Why are you doing it? I have a great profit calculator that I use when I am researching a new revenue source.

The reality is that money is what makes the world go around. Sure, you can get away with the minimum but at the end of the day, you need money to purchase land, animals, feed and so much more. Rarely, are you going to be able to trade for these items right out of the gate.

Sustainablity

This is another tag word that we are all to familiar with in the homesteading community, but I don’t think people look at it from the “other” side. When you are looking for a way to bring in an income, you have to look at the sustainability of that revenue. If you want to start content creation, you need to look at your ability to stay consistent.

You also want to look at whether this revenue source is something you can sustain. Burnout is real on the homestead and dealing with the constant demand of marketing, creation, etc are really hard to keep up with.

Your Skills

There is always the ability to learn new skills. But if you are looking to start a wood working business and you don’t even know how, you are going to struggle while getting your skills up to speed. Again, this isn’t to say that you can’t do it, but you need to really look at what skills you have and if they are marketable.

Another option is to find a way that allows to use the skills you already have while homesteading. This can look different for everyone but doing blood draws for animal testing can bring in a fair amount of money if you know how to do them.

Multiple Revenue Streams

Much like “regular” business or wealth building, you don’t want to limit yourself to one revenue or income stream. But when it comes to homesteading, the reason is a little different. The reality is that you are probably not going to make enough money to cover your all expenses by selling eggs.

As a homesteader, you need to understand that your income will be seasonal. You may get $100/mo selling eggs between March and October. You’ll make another $300/mo selling cut flowers from April to October. Maybe you’ll make another $1000 selling a couple goat kids in March and again October. But having multiple income streams are really important to leaving the rat race.

Your Local Market And Regulations

Depending on what you are looking to make, raise, grow or sell, you need to look into your local regulations to see if you can. Up until here recently it was illegal to sell raw milk (for human consumption) in the state of Georgia. If I wanted to sell raw milk, I had to sell it for animal consumption. If I wanted to sell bread at the local farmers market, I would have to get a cottage license.

But other things that you should look at is your local market for these items. Where I live, it doesn’t make a bit of sense to sell eggs because everyone at the local farmers market sells eggs. I would have to go closer to the city to sell at a farmers market that wasn’t completely saturated with egg sales.

Making Money As A New Homesteader

Now for the information you really want!

Sell Your Abundance

Anyone who has livestock understands chicken math and goat-a-plication. But there is a benefit to the extra livestock. You can sell it. We have a lot of chickens and ducks. This means that I can sell eggs, chicks or poults. I love goats and their milk is one of the few that I can tolerate. But to get milk, I have to breed my girls and this leads to babies. So we sell goat kids after they are weaned.

This goes for your garden as well. We all know that you planted WAY too many cherry tomato plants, or zucchini, you can sell your abundance to friends or family and even local grocers.

Consider what you are already growing, raising, breeding, etc and how you can sell the extra. It won’t bring in a lot of money in one shot, but it can bring a several hundred dollars a year and that could be an extra mortgage payment.

Content Creation

This a big one for homesteaders, especially the generations raised with the internet and social media. **Raises hand** Content creation is a great way to bring in an extra income at any point in your homestead journey. You don’t have to be a pro goat owner, gardener, canner, etc. In fact, a lot of people are dying to see the real thing. People want to see real life people, doing real life things.

The main thing with content creation is to be purposeful, and research the topics or areas you want to talk about. Again, this goes back to market research. You also need to look at your niche and what you can talk about for years and years.

Selling Your Craft

This is one that a lot of people struggle with and I am one of them. I struggle with Why would someone want what I made, it’s not that good. But the reality is that there are people out there that want to buy what you sell. You just have to find them.

I would love to get back into selling my candles, because I really enjoy making them.

Jared is building my greenhouse so I can sell my plant starts and house plants.

I am getting back into making tea diffusers.

These various products have the potential to bring in a lot of money and could allow me to stay home, which is the goal.

You could sell handmade pottery, quilts, stain glass, and so much more. The sky is the limit and with enough business, could keep you from a 9-5 with ease.

Meat Animals

If this is not something that interests you, keep scrolling. But raising meat animals can be extremely profitable if you can get your set up right and source the animals and feed well. Pasture pork, grass fed beef, and pastured chicken are all high value animals for people that want to eat meat but don’t want to get it from the grocery store.

If you already know how to butcher animals, look into what it would take to open a processing facility. Seriously, there are more and more people who want to raise animals but can’t process them themselves. I can tell you right now, there are not enough meat processors/ butchers to keep up with the demand.

Or, you could set up a business were you travel around showing people how to process their own animals. This can be incredibly lucrative.

Find Something You Do Well, and Make Sell it

At the end of the day, making money as a new homesteader doesn’t need to be hard. In fact, it can be quite easy IF you can figure out a way to make it sustainable, profitable, and work for you. There are a lot of ways to make money homesteading. The issue comes with the hard work, time needed, regulations/local markets, etc. But once you figure that out? You can spend your days hanging out wth your goats.

What Is Predator Load

May 22, 2022 by Leigh 6 Comments

Up till recently, we have been very lucky when it comes to predators. In our immediate area, we have a couple coyote dens on the surrounding properties and the typical skunks, opossum, fox and minx. We also have a couple of bears and bobcat, too. But what is a homestead predator, what is predator load and why is it important?

Let’s First Answer: What is a predator?

A predator is simply any creature that wishes, is programmed and is able to do harm. That is a very broad definition right? But the reality is that anything could be a predator. The rabbit in your garden is a predator because it wants to harm (eat) your plants. A chicken is a predator to plants and bugs, sometimes each other.

It’s natural to think that predators are only big, scary animals with bigger teeth and claws. And while that is correct, you also have to broaden your definitions when you homestead or care for any kind of livestock. And, it’s not just other animals you have to be careful of. Humans are just as bad, if not worse predators.

What is Predator Load?

By definition, predator load is the amount of predators that come through your property or surrounding property. It could be high, moderate, or low and it can be seasonal as well. If you don’t know your predator load, I would start talking to your neighbors, local extension office, or Google. I would also do this prior to getting livestock.

Just by knowing our neighbors and having their phone numbers, we have successfully avoided several attacks. We alert our neighbors, or they alert us, and we get outside with our animals or put them up.

Why is knowing your predator load important?

Once you know what is going to actively try and kill your animals (besides your goats trying to kill themselves), you can start planning steps to fix problems before they arise. For example; I stated above that we have coyote, bear, bob cat, minx, skunk, and opossum as our homestead predators. This tells me that I need to make sure that I have secured my chicken coop at night. It also tells me that I need to put my goats up at night too. But my day time problems, shouldn’t be too bad.

Next, you need to start researching various predator deterrents. There are several non lethal methods but at the end of the day, you have to decide how you are going to protect the animals in your care. Whether that is trapping and releasing, SSS (Shoot, Shovel, Shut Up), or hoping that they decide to leave a free buffet alone. Otherwise, you’ll need to mark off a section of your property for your animal cemetery.

How We Handle Predator Load

One of the first things we did, when it started getting cooler, was to start working on our goat barn. We knew that the coyotes were going to start coming up into the yard to find food. I was not going to risk my goats lives because I didn’t want to build them a secure enclosure for night.

Another thing we did was order these. They are predator lights. We have them all over the property to help deter predators. It’s not foolproof but it does help. We’ve got them in the garden, around the chicken coop, goat barn, etc.

We also have huge dogs that we have praised for alerting us since we got them. Bear is our smallest at 75# and Kodi is our biggest at a skinny 140#, we are working to put more weight on him. This helps because most predators are not going to come into the yard of dogs that are 2-3x the size of them. We also rotate dogs in and out of the house so there is always a dog outside during the day.

Lastly, we practice SSS. I really struggle with this because I don’t want to harm another animal. Especially one that is doing what it is supposed to be doing. I struggle when we butcher meat chickens. But at the same time, when I bought animals, I took on the responsibility of keeping them safe. I take that very seriously. Not just in terms of predators but also educating myself on the best possible practices for their care.

I tell you all this because we have officially lost our first chicken to a fox. I was at work and Jared sent me a text saying that our favorite chicken was killed by a fox. When I was able to call him, I got the recap. Apparently, the fox was chasing our ducks and chickens around the house before he finally caught one. Jared was too far away from the rifle and by the time he got to it, the chicken was dead and the fox was enjoying his meal. We have since beefed up our protection measures and hopefully, won’t lose anymore chickens, ducks, or goats.

So before you get livestock, save yourself some heartache and do some research. Not just on the types of animals, breeds, and their care. Research the predator load in your area, how to handle it, and how you are going to deal with the predator that maims or kills your favorite chicken.

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10 Things To Start Preparing For Winter