For the would-be homesteader, The Backyard Homestead, by Carleen Madigan, is one book I can highly recommend. Just leafing through the chapters, you’ll be astounded at the sheer quantity of information you can find in this book. I found it to be a huge inspiration to try things and learn new skills.
The author, Carleen Madigan, who is listed on the book as a gardening editor at Storey Publishing, gives an amazing breadth of information in this fairly compact book.
At 339 pages, not including the appendices, this book is packed with ideas on how to make your property produce for you. The sample plan for laying out a 1/4 acre piece of property with a plan to produce a huge amount of homegrown food is simply inspiring.
The topics included range from gardening (including information on herbs, grains and orchards) to raising dairy goats and building your own chicken coop. She covers the basics of breadmaking, cheese-making, beer brewing, seed-saving and more.
Since buying this book, I have learned to love gardening, dehydrating foods, sprouting, wine- and beer-making, seed-saving and more. I still have more horizons to explore when we get the homestead going, so I plan to continue using this helpful book as an inspiration and guide.
A little over a month ago, I decided to try out making my own lactofermented sauerkraut. I had been reading about the health benefits of eating naturally fermented foods (aids in digestion and tastes yummy).
Not being sure how much we would like it, I did not go out and immediately buy a sauerkraut crock, but tried it out using what I had around here. That turned out to be an empty plastic 5 quart ice cream bucket and lid.
I started out with two large heads of cabbage purchased at the grocery store (they seem to be very reasonably priced this time of year), kosher salt (any non-iodized salt will do) and an inexpensive mandoline slicing machine I picked up at Aldi awhile back.
I peeled off a couple of the large outer cabbage leaves to use as the top layer in my sauerkraut bucket, then used the mandoline to finely shred the cabbage. This is a messy process, so I ended up with little cabbage bits scattered around. As I shredded, I packed the cabbage into the ice cream bucket, tamping it down with my potato masher, sprinkling kosher salt on as I went. I used about 1 1/2 to 2 Tablespoons of kosher salt per head of cabbage (this can be varied somewhat to suit your taste, although you don’t want too little since the salty atmosphere is required for proper fermentation).
After it was all shredded, salted, tamped down, I used the reserved cabbage leaves to cover the shredded cabbage, and topped it with a china plate that fit inside the bucket. To add weight to press down on the plate, I filled a ziplock bag with water and placed it on top of the plate.
Within just a few hours, the cabbage had released enough liquid to cover the sauerkraut. For the first week or so, it remained on my kitchen counter so I could observe the process. However, it began to exude a less than desirable smell and was then moved to the basement to continue.
Over the last month, I checked it every few days, adding bottled water once when it needed (don’t add chlorinated tap water).
In the last week, it has developed a really nice sauerkraut smell, so today I transferred it all into mason jars (and sampled some along the way). This yielded about 2 1/2 quarts of sauerkraut, which can be stored in the basement to continue fermentation (as long as the lids are not tightened down and gas can escape) or moved to the refrigerator to stop the process at the current level of “sour-ness”.
Can you believe how easy this is? I think I’ll branch out by adding apples and caraway seeds on the next batch, maybe a few juniper berries (reminds me of our years in Germany).
It is really quite tasty, with a slightly different taste than the stuff you buy in cans… I think it is time for German bockwurst to go along with the sauerkraut. Guess what is for dinner tonight…
The first place to begin is the web. Most every locale has an official government web site which should contain most of the information you need to start your planning. For this article, I selected a town in Arizona, far away from where we are building to use as an example. I selected Yuma, Arizona. I simply entered the following search and started to explore; “Residential building permit Yuma, AZ”. The first hit took me directly to the government site which answered the basic questions for obtaining a residential building permit. I focused my search on information on the page relating to a permit for an Owner/Builder. After a bit of reading on the first page I found the following:
“For more information about building permits and fees, contact the City of Yuma Department of Community Development.”
A few additional clicks looking for Yuma Department of Community Development I was at the Building Safety Division, where several more questions were answered regarding required documentation, fees, and time required for obtaining a building permit. Within a few more minutes I found this quote,
“The department recommends that an Arizona licensed contractor be hired to coordinate all phases and types of construction for your project; in fact, most commercial construction requires a contractor.”
This led me to believe I could act as an owner builder, although it was not 100% clear. A quick call to the Community Development Office (928-373-5175) will confirm I was correct.
Establish a working relationship with the Clerks
The first call to the city or county offices is where you establish your first relationship with the workers. I always ask for a complete name and phone number so I can readily speak with the same person each time. In big city offices, this is not always possible, but it does save both parties a lot of time explaining who you are and what you are trying to do each and every time you call. After a few short conversations over the course of a few days you get to know your government contact and it will become easier each time to get your answers. I always collect several questions and call fewer times rather than calling several times with every single question. After a while you will be on a first name basis and get nearly all of your questions answered. A few general rules are:
Treat them in the same manner as you want to be treated. Don’t treat them like drones. You might be the 24th caller of the day asking the same, seemingly stupid, question.
Always be respectful and patient. You’ll get more with a kind word than a sharp condescending tongue. You reap what you sow.
Write everything down so you can remember the answers to questions. I sometimes find myself asking the same question twice because I could not remember the answer from the call 2 weeks ago.
Conduct the basic research before you call. You can many times get the answer you need by going to the city/county site for information. Don’t forget to look for the state building codes. Most of your answers about what is required are in the state codes. It will save you several phone calls.
Always remember, the person you peeve off may be the person performing your building inspection. You don’t have to bow and grovel, just treat them kindly.
Get most of the documentation right the first time
You will be required to submit what seems like a mountain of documentation. Make sure you have the correct forms, you have it all filled out correctly, and your details are legible and conform to the state codes. The more work you do up front, the easier it will be to get your permit. In doing so you will begin to build rapport with your city contact and they will probably be the person doing your inspection.
Again, I found a wealth of information on the web. I was able to copy and paste specifications, drawings, sectional drawings and reproduce much of what I needed from things I found on the web as shown below in the foundation sectional diagram.
The use of a computer floor plan program will be a big help as well. I found the Punch! Program to be very useful. I was able to submit about 80% of what the city needed directly from my home computer. None of my drawings were ¼” = 1’. I simply used the “print to fit page” function, made sure the detail was legible, and made annotated notes in the margins using the text mode of the program. I was surprised how easy the process really was.
Framing details from Punch! Software program
Be humble
Most of the folks in the government offices have been doing their work for many years and they are true professionals. In some cases they have over 25 years of experience. Yes, there are the consummate drones working in the office, but that is not the rule. Most know their work very well and have much of the information about codes, requirements, zoning and variances memorized. They will invariably make mistakes, so don’t stick it in their face. When I found discrepancies between what I was told and what was on the site I humbly directed a question to the person with whom I had established a relationship and asked for clarification. It worked every time. I did not care who was right, and I was not concerned about telling the clerk, “I told you so!” I simply wanted my documentation to be correct so I could start the construction project. In my case, the person with whom I worked answered every question I had. I did all of this over the phone while living in a different state 1300 miles from the construction project.
After all my preparations were complete, my father-in-law submitted my plans on my behalf. I was not even there. They were approved within 2 days without question. The foundation and plumbing inspector showed up at the site on separate visits and spent a total of 3 minutes on site. They knew me by name, they had high confidence based on the documentation I had submitted, and there was a greater level of trust based on the work I had done before I even called the office.
A short time after I had submitted my documentation, I got a phone call asking if I wanted to be on the city planning and zoning committee. I ascribe the reason they asked me to be on the board to the fact that I established a good working relationship with the clerks, I got most of my documentation right the first time, and I acted out of humility.
It’s the season for baking and potluck dinners and parties and candy-making and warm, delicious drinks…
I’m making a homemade apple pie for a potluck dinner this evening. I know that, when I was growing up, it was already considered something a bit special to make pies well. So now, it is even more unusual for folks to make their own piecrust and pies.
Making piecrust isn’t really that difficult, but it is daunting to those who’ve never done it. Today I’m using the recipe my grandma used:
3 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
Whisk together, then add:
1 cup shortening
Cut the shortening into the flour mixture with a fork until the size of the shortening pieces are no larger than pea-size.
about 2/3 cup ice-cold water
Stir in the water with the fork until it just forms a ball. Add more water if needed, but don’t overdo it.
Divide the dough into 3 pieces. Use two for this pie… save the other for a delicious pecan pie (just a suggestion).
To roll it out, I must admit that I use plastic wrap to line my countertop, place the dough on top and then cover with another layer of plastic wrap. Then I roll the dough out to the desired size between the layers. This allows me to avoid the muss of rolling directly on the countertop and also removes the need for adding extra flour to prevent sticking to the rolling pin.
The plastic wrap makes it easy to place into the pie dish with no mishaps…
The apples are peeled, sliced… add sugar to taste — in this case about 2/3 cup (these apples were a combination of Galas and Braeburns — the Braeburns have a wonderful, tart flavor), 1 tsp. cinnamon and 1/4 c. flour.
After stirring to coat the apple slices, pour into prepared pie shell and dot with butter.
The top crust must have a few openings to allow the air to vent during baking. This pattern is the same used by my mother and grandma…
The plastic wrap makes it easy to center the top crust without tearing…
Fold the top crust under the edge of the bottom crust and crimp the edges…
Sprinkle on cinnamon sugar, if desired…
Enjoy with whipped cream, ice cream, or a slice of sharp cheddar cheese… yummm.
Home, sweet home...Call it counter-cultural. Call it crazy. We have decided to take up housekeeping in an RV while we build our home. We do have a history of RV-living. Since we lived in the New Orleans area when Hurricane Katrina hit, we found ourselves living in a trailer for several months. We have done it before and know how it is.
Why do it?
In 2005, when Katrina hit the Gulf coast, we had no idea initially just how long it would be until we could go home. Only a couple of days after Katrina passed through New Orleans, we could see that it would be awhile before things returned to normal. We had several motivations that made the purchase of an RV seem a logical choice:
1. We had two kids and a large dog and were completely sick of hotel living. At least at a campground, we would have plenty of outside space and room for the kids and dog to run.
2. With the huge number of evacuees in the area, short-term apartments were in short supply.
3. We had no idea how long we would be evacuated, so were reluctant to sign a long-term lease.
4. If we were able to return home, but had no power, water, or sewer service, a trailer seemed like a very self-contained solution to use while working on home repairs.
5. Since my husband had to remain in the city where the evacuated military aircraft (from the New Orleans area) were positioned, even if allowed back home, he would have to stay with the aircraft, so the idea of staying together as a family unit was more appealing.
6. The idea of family camping trips in the future sounded like fun.
As it happened, we ended up living a total of 4 1/2 months in that RV… We learned a great deal from it and look back on it as a happy time. Since we had a overall good experience that time, we decided it would be a good thing to consider again during our construction… with a few changes.
We lived on-base at a very safe campground during our evacuation. There was a central bath house and a coin-operated washer and dryer at the campground. The boys had many a pleasant evening with a campfire and marshmallows at the campground. We became quite adept at preparing meals in our little trailer and learned many of the tricks of RV living. The boys continued right on with school at the little dining table.
Two things would have made such a huge difference in the standard of living. Better bath facilities and our own washer and dryer. It doesn’t seem like those two things would be so crucial. After all, we did have in our trailer a lovely shower/bath/toilet combo and separate bathroom sink. The laundry facilities were only a short walk away. I think I am just a bit spoiled to whine, but there it is.
We looked at our options for the build of our own retirement home. We could have chosen to rent a small house in town or even accepted the kind offer my parents made for us to stay with them. In the end, we decided to modify the design of the workshop to accommodate our needs and make things a bit more comfortable so that we could live on-site.
At first, we thought of actually building a living quarters at one end of the workshop and keeping it as a guest quarters later on, but couldn’t really justify the added cost when we looked at how little we expected to actually need guest quarters after the home was finished. We came upon the idea to just put in a finished bathroom with shower, sink and toilet and equip the workshop with a washer/dryer hookup. With those two things and our 5th wheel RV, we’d have all the comforts of home.
Cost-wise, it works out very well. We figure the extra cost of adding a bathroom to be fairly minimal and a useful bonus to our lives after the construction was complete. It will allow us to eliminate the cost of a rental house and rented storage units during the build time and also to protect our materials by living there.
It will be another adventure (but even better… this time we’ll have better plumbing).
Venturing out on your own home construction project can be a daunting challenge. Depending on where you decide to build there is an unending maze of bureaucracy to negotiate before you break ground! We are fortunate that we chose to build in New Mexico, in a county where the rules have not gotten too ridiculous. Some counties of New Mexico, such those which serve Santa Fe and Albuquerque, are simply out of control. It seems that the larger the population, the bigger the government and hence the more rules and administrative requirements there are. The well-meaning technocrats continue to find new and creative ways of protecting us from ourselves. I realize that many of the rules and codes are well-intentioned, but I digress. Some of the important keys to overcoming the fear of the unknown are; a measure of self confidence, massive research and a good friend who is in the construction industry in the area where you are planning to build.
Settlers did it centuries ago… so can we!
For centuries the settlers built their own homesteads with few tools, no money and materials harvested from their land. It was simply how things were done. There was no question about doing so, it was a matter of survival. For over a century Americans have relied on artisans and professionals to build their homes. We have lost a measure of confidence in our ability to do such things for ourselves. You need to have some self confidence. It serves to support your notion that you can actually manage a project on your own. Even with the most basic of skills, you can do some or much of the work yourself. If you frequently do home repairs or renovation projects, you possess many of the skills to tackle some of the work on your own. Critical things such as wiring, installing an HVAC system and metal roofing, for example, might be the projects you reserve for the subs. If you are not handy with any tools or are physically unable to perform the physical tasks required, you can still manage the project and save a hefty amount. I always balk when I hear someone say, “If you are not a doctor you wouldn’t perform your own heart surgery why would you build your own house?” The two are not the same. They are not even close. Granted, there are many pitfalls and potentially dangerous aspects of building your home, but you CAN do it yourself! I never realized that until I began to do the research.
Where to Start
The research is important, of course, to provide you with the knowledge of rules, requirements, codes, costs, procedures, which sub-contractors to select for your project, which products are the best or cheapest and a host of other subjects. I would recommend spending several months doing that research so that you can examine the scope of your project, determine what you will accomplish yourself and narrow the costs down. We spent the better part of a year doing the research. It’s amazing what you can find online. I also relied heavily on books which detailed construction techniques, Name Your Link“>codes, and general how-to books to finalize our plan of attack. Depending on how well you and your spouse get a long, there are lots of details that can be fun to work on together. My wife and I have a great arrangement; she picks everything and I like it! (Except in the detached, unheated, non-air conditioned workshop! That is man’s domain. Women stay out!)
A Helping Hand
Having one of more friends or trusted confidants to rely on will be of great benefit. We are fortunate to have a good friend who is a general contractor in our hometown. We treat it like a business transaction and pay for work and advice. No one wants another weekend job for a friend! Keep the relationship professional and you can still remain friends long after the project is finished. Our friend knows almost all of the subs in town. He knows which ones to trust, who does the best work, and who charges reasonable rates. He knows where to find the best prices on materials, and how to negotiate some of the bureaucracy. We elected to have our workshop built while we are still living in another state (1326 miles away!). When we arrive in New Mexico, the workshop, complete with full bathroom and laundry hook-up and an RV pad complete with water and electrical hook-ups will be ready for immediate move in. We plan on living in our RV while we build our house. We’ll be on-site so we won’t have to worry about material security and the commute to the job-site can be done in house slippers if needed. Food, bathroom, laundry and the most important ingredients — coffee in the morning and home-brewed beer in the evening — are right on site!!
I’m one of those people who buy a lot of long-term storage food for the pantry. I have dried beans, rice, wheat berries, dehydrated vegetables, spices, baking supplies… you name it — if it can be stored for a reasonable amount of time on the shelves, I probably have at least a small stockpile of it.
But let’s face it. If you want to whip up a quick batch of chili for lunch, doing it with dried beans is not the answer. I discovered pressure canning a couple of years back and was reminded once again today why it is such a great idea. Since I had previously pressure canned my own jars of beans, I could just quickly throw the ingredients together and have lunch ready for my family with very little muss or fuss.
Why to pressure can…
There are several reasons why it is a great idea to learn this skill. The cost of a bag of dried beans is still really reasonable, usually $1.00 or so per pound in the grocery, less if you buy in bulk. From that pound of beans, you’ll end up with about 4 pints of canned beans, about $.25/jar. Even if you add on the cost of the canning lid, the cost is very reasonable. Once you have the pre-cooked, canned beans in your pantry, you can whip up a bean soup, minestrone, chili, or other bean dish in just minutes.
Sometimes people who stock up on staples like beans find they are difficult to cook to a nice, soft texture after they’ve been stored for a few years. Pressure canning takes care of that and softens up even the toughest beans. You’ll be a lot more likely to use those stored foods in your normal food rotation if they are tasty and easy to use.
Pressure canning is also great for the abundant harvest from a garden. This summer, my Mom and I canned 30 quarts of fresh green beans. There was no way she had room in her freezer for that much, so canning was a great way to preserve them for yummy winter meals.Summer's Bounty on the shelf
How to Pressure Can beans…
Before beginning, you need to buy or borrow an actual pressure canner. I have a 16 qt Presto model that works fine for me. Follow the instructions with the pressure canner very carefully to insure safety. You’ll need to know your locale’s altitude to determine what pressure to use. The key thing is that for any low-acid food (beans are a low-acid food), you need to process them at 240 degrees Fahrenheit for the time required in order to assure safe processing. Since (obviously) 240 degrees is higher than the boiling temperature of water, pressure is needed to achieve that. At higher altitudes, a higher pressure is required to reach 240 since the air is thinner.
Since I have the weighted gauge type pressure canner, it is really pretty simple for me to make the determination about how much weight. For altitudes 1000 ft and below, I can use the 10 lbs weight. For anything else, the 15 lb weight is required.
Now… to the super simple, easy-as-pie, dry beans canning recipe (that I learned from Jackie Clay’s blog, by the way), here is what you do:
Put 3/4 c. dry beans (your choice of type) into a clean pint jar (or 1 1/2 cups into a quart jar)
Fill the jar with boiling water, leaving 1″ headspace at the top of the jar. Place previously-simmered lids on top, firmly tighten the rings.
Process the jar (following your canner instructions) for 75 minutes for pints, 90 minutes for quarts at the pressure required for your altitude.
If you wish, you can add 1/2 tsp salt to pints or 1 tsp. salt to quarts.
Quick Chili for lunch
Now my recipe is really nothing fancy, but it is hearty and easy to do…
Brown 1 lb. ground beef in a big pot. Drain off excess fat if necessary. Add in 2 Tablespoons of chili seasoning mix (I mix this up myself using NM ground red chili), 2 8-oz cans of tomato sauce (or 2 14-oz cans of tomato puree), 1 quart jar of canned beans. Add water if needed. Simmer for at least 15 minutes… serve with cheddar cheese.
How do we get to the place where we spend every bit of income we earn (and, in some cases, more than we earn)? While we were re-evaluating our lifestyle, I was reminded of the contrast with our finances in the beginning. In the early days of marriage, when we were living on 2LT pay, and trying to make up for a few bad decisions, we lived on an amazingly small amount of monthly income.
Let’s just put it into perspective: When we were starting out, my husband’s gross monthly income was $1088.80, plus $280.70 housing allowance. After taxation, I’m thinking we ended up with around $1100/month. From that, we paid $350/month rent, utilities, $250/month car payment (yes, my husband did not ascribe to my views on paying cash for cars yet), $75/month car insurance, food, and $90/month for furniture (my sweet husband picked out furniture to surprise me — you can guess how pleased I was).
From the above figures, you can see that we had $765/month already accounted for in fixed costs before utilities, food, gasoline, etc. It didn’t take me long to figure out that we were going to run out of cash waaay before we ran out of month.
So… I made all our food from scratch, watched the sales and did pretty well on our food budget. I had a bicycle that I used for transportation in the near area. No shopping trips for me, no eating out.
It still wasn’t working.
My idea was that I should find work. I immediately tried to find office work in the area, but had no luck. The local businesses had no interest in hiring a transient such as myself and had no pity for me since my husband was employed. My idea of finding work as a waitress was nixed by my husband (who didn’t think it was a fitting occupation for an “officer’s wife”, haha).
Upon looking at our monthly bills as our savings dwindled, I settled upon the utility bill as something we could reduce. I found the electric bill to be much higher than I recalled from college years. I began turning off the heat or A/C during the day and noticed a huge difference. This worked so well, I also turned off the hot water heater and only turned it on to heat up water before evening showers (trust me, it did save electricity).
Just the difference in utilities made all the difference for us. We were able to pay all our bills each month without dipping into our savings and still had about $40* left over for “fun money” each month.
Using this same train of thought may make the difference for folks trying to figure out how to get by on less or how to make it possible to save up a nest egg. It also illustrates how much an impact on monthly expenses reducing your utility costs can make. I won’t say there weren’t a few hot, humid days that I didn’t long for air-conditioning, but we made it!
*I was pretty gullible back in those days. My husband somehow convinced me that we should spend that $40 on an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet (total cost $12) and the rest on video games. He told me that he needed to play those games in order to develop sufficient hand/eye coordination that he wouldn’t die while learning to fly helicopters. If I hadn’t acquiesced, imagine the guilt I’d have felt if he had crashed.
In 2012, we’ll have been married 30 years. During that time, we have never lived anywhere longer than 4 1/2 years, and several times we moved from temporary to permanent housing within a very short period of time. Yes… we are making our 19th move of ourselves and belongings when my husband retires next year.
This time, we are moving back home. Along with our two boys, dog, two leopard geckos, and accumulated paraphernalia gathered as we, like gypsies, moved along to new ground periodically, we plan to make a new life for ourselves in my hometown.
The Decision
So… how did we decide to take this road? How did we choose where to put down our roots and spend the last years of raising our boys? In the end, it all came down to relationships and family. We didn’t choose our chosen locale based upon tax rates, local government, climate, inches/year of rainfall, employment or educational opportunities, cost of property, proximity to a major airport or good medical care…
The big draw for us was the grandparents. Yep, my parents have lived in the same town since 1961 and they aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. My in-laws also live only a couple of hours’ drive away. We want our boys to grow up around them. It’s as simple as that. Once that decision was made, the rest was easy.
It’s been only a couple of years ago that we made the decision for my husband to take the earliest possible retirement opportunity. Before that, we had envisioned continuing on for several more years working within the system and moving as required. We began to look at things a bit differently and focus more on preparing for our personal future more than on career. At that point, we began making a few changes to allow this early retirement to happen.
Making it Happen
Saving our nickels and dimes, eliminating all forms of debt, reducing our monthly costs ( in order to save more nickels and dimes)… this was a big factor in making this possible. We figured out that, in order for us to even have a chance of living on the monthly retirement income we’ll receive, we can not have any debt.
We calculated the amount of gross income we will have as retirement income, deducted our ‘off the top’ expenses, including healthcare coverage and taxes. Then, when we saw what was left over to live on, we were at first a bit dismayed. That number was about 25% of our current net income! Scary, right?
Well, we took a look at it and were wondering if we could actually live on it if we didn’t have any of the typical debt that most people have. Could we have a decent life on 25% of the amount we currently earn? We decided to try it out.
For the last year, each month, we decided to see if we could live on just what we would have at retirement, not exceeding that amount on any of the day to day living costs. We found out that, not only could we do it, we could actually live on less than the monthly income using a few simple techniques. I’ll put a post together on simple cost-saving methods that allowed us to live on less without sacrificing our quality of life…
For the would-be homesteader,
“>codes, and general how-to books to finalize our plan of attack. Depending on how well you and your spouse get a long, there are lots of details that can be fun to work on together. My wife and I have a great arrangement; she picks everything and I like it! (Except in the detached, unheated, non-air conditioned workshop! That is man’s domain. Women stay out!)
