NH Homesteader's journal

NH Homesteader

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1. What state/province/country are you in and what is your climate like?
New Hampshire. Cold! Okay we kind of have the traditional 4 season thing going.
2. How many people are in your family? Marital status?
Married and we have a 3 (almost 4) year old daughter
3. How would you define self sufficiency?
Being able to survive without the outside world. Providing your own food, is my biggest focus.
,4. What would you do with your spare time if you had any resources you needed?
Ooh boy! I have a lot of things I want to learn to do... Like spin wool, and start playing music again.
5. Have you ever built a house , or other types of building? Do you want to?
Nope but I would like to!
6. Can you weld? Steel, aluminum, MiG, TiG, stick, Oxy-Acet?
No, my husband can though!
7. Who or what inspired you to become more self sufficient?
Hmm well it started with a couple laying hens... Watching movies like Food Inc and reading all of Joel Salatin's books. My husband is also very motivated to be self sufficient. We also watch a lot of zombie movies and have a bit of "prepper" in us!
8 Cloth or paper?
Cloth. Except toilet paper. Oh man I have limits.
9. In what ways are you self sufficient now and in what ways would you like to learn more?
We have laying hens and a rooster to produce eggs and meat, raise pigs for meat and goats for milk. I also intend to bring in a meat breed buck in the future to have dual purpose offspring. I make soap, laundry detergent... We have a garden. My husband butchers all of the above animals, and I am going to learn this year. There is more I'm sure. I would like to learn more about food preservation and how to sew, knit and spin wool.
10. In what way(s) will you never choose to become self sufficient?
I will not be attempting to grow grain anytime soon.
11. Are you interested in stocking up for future needs?
Yes but haven't been able to much yet.
12. Where do you end up when you sink into yourself, away from the outside world?
Umm I have no idea how to answer that question. I have a 3 year old so I don't get to hide very often.
13. Can you drive a farm tractor or a semi?
Kind of a tractor but no semi.
14. Do you make crafts or useful items? Would you want to teach others how to do these?
I make soap but not well (yet). Once I'm good at it, that would be fun.
15. Can you have legally livestock where you are at? Do you have any? What kinds?
Yes my town doesn't care. We have 6 goats, 3 pigs, a bunch of chickens and some turkeys who are awaiting their date with the freezer.
16. Can you operate a lathe? Metal, wood?
Nope
17. Do you like to garden? If so, what do you enjoy growing?
No I don't actually but I do it because I believe if you have the space and the ability you should have a garden. I do love watching my tomatoes ripen.
18. Do you fish? Bait or explosives?
No but my husband does. With bait. There is no way explosives are legal.
19. How much space/land do you have or rent? City? Country?
Country, 5 acres but access to my parents' land next door who have 35 acres.
20. Are you a Novice, Technician, General, Advanced? ARRL?
I have no idea what that means.
21. What is your self sufficient specialty? Or what one would you like to learn?
Animal husbandry I guess? I'm fairly new to all of this!
22. If you could create a degree and curriculum, what would you major in and what classes would you take?
Wilderness survival, animal husbandry, and/or general practical skills like welding!
23. Do you do wood work? framing, finish, cabinet?
Nope again husband does.
24. Are you interested in herbal medicine?
Yes but skeptical. Interested in knowing more though.
25. If you could live any place you chose, where would it be?
I have an obsession with Montana but I don't know that I'm tough enough for it!
26. Do you use a wood stove for heating or cooking?
Not currently.
27. What would your ideal super hero/villain be?
Anti Monsanto man!
28. Are your family or friends also interested in self sufficiency?
Not much. My family gardens but that's about it.
29. Do you like to cook? Are you interested in whole foods and natural foods? raw milk? farm fresh eggs?
Yes! This is my number one topic inself sufficiency. I do pasteurize my milk from my goats but I have a young child so I am cautious. My long term goal is to produce all our food except grains.
30. What was your MOS?
What?
31. Do you forage or hunt for part of your food needs?
Yes my husband hunts deer and I forage for things like berries.
32. What skills do you have that help you be more self sufficient?
Mostly, patience and a desire to learn.
33. In which fictional universe would you most like to live?
I kinda like it in this one. Maybe one where people took care of each other better.
34. Do you have solar panels? Plans to use solar energy?
Not yet! We will!
35 What is the mass/weight ratio of a European swallow carrying a coconut from the tropics to England?
Pi
36. Have you ever lived completely off grid? Would you like to?
If by off grid you mean with solar panels and running water then yes. my toilet must flush and I insist on daily showers.
37. In what do you trust?
Myself, my husband and my daughter. My dog . Maybe that sounds negative but that's where I'm at.
38. Do you make things yourself to save money?
Yes, would love to more!
39. Has trying to be more self-sufficient changed your attitude or habits about money/spending?
Yes! Oh if I could have back all the money I wasted on nonsense!
 

NH Homesteader

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I used to! Back in high school and college I played clarinet and saxophone. I played guitar and bass guitar also, and I have played to some extent most instruments.

I really want to learn to play the violin/fiddle! And I have an old player piano from the early 1900's that I would love to play also. I can read music so that's half the battle.
 

frustratedearthmother

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I was sooooo lucky in high school. (no sarcasm there - not at all...sigh) My mom wanted me to play the instrument of HER choice (so I could teach HER to play it) Don't know why she didn't just go take ACCORDION lessens herself, lol!​
 

NH Homesteader

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Ahh! So sorry! My friend plays the accordion and almost makes it look cool. I would have countered with bagpipes ;)
 

NH Homesteader

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We are currently trying to figure out if we can butcher our two pigs st home this year without waiting for cold weather. Like maybe use a fridge to hang them in. We would have to do them one at a time in that case. My husband always butchers our pigs, but at someone else's house. Well that particular someone has been not so decent to us lately, so we don't want to deal with that.

They're ready to go pretty quickly here, so I'm hoping maybe around October 1st we can start. Then around the 15th we will do our meat birds, then the turkeys in November. Then we will have freezer space issues. Also hoping to get another deer this year. We love venison stew. And the dogs just love it too!

Forecast says 39 degrees tonight. Everyone got extra hay to stay warm!
 

frustratedearthmother

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Oh man... I can't even imagine 39 degrees right now. We were above 90 again today - but it's so much better than it has been. Heat index was only 102 instead of nearly 120! I actually enjoyed being outside tonight. Temp dropped to upper 80's and life was good!

I have a pig to butcher too...gonna wait a couple more months probably.
 

NH Homesteader

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Ugh our high for the day was about 65. It'll warm up again, but I enjoyed the brief cool down! I love this weather. My husband's "big tough" hunting dog (ha!) was shivering and begging to come inside where she has spent most of the day on the couch. Pathetic!

We should wait, the problem is that we are almost out of meat in the freezer and I don't want to have to buy it at the grocery store! We didn't put enough in the freezer last year. This year we are not making that mistake! We will have more than enough! Like... Way more.
 

baymule

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Do you scrape or skin your hogs? What about icing them down? Around here that is the only way to keep meat sufficiently cold enough to process. LOL We butchered 32 roosters, 22 in two days, then two weeks later, 10 more. We borrowed a neighbor's Yeti cooler and kept them iced while I processed them.

We didn't want to spend $550 for a Yeti. WalMart ran a sale on a 120 quart Coleman Extreme for $54. It's no Yeti, but we gave it an ice test and it kept ice for 7 days. Day 8 it was all water, but still cold. I always ice deer down for days to a week. I drain the water and add more ice. It soaks the blood out and I get better meat. That's the Southern way of hanging meat. :lol: Maybe since you don't have the facilities to process and hang meat, you could pack some in a cooler while you cut it and pack it for the freezer.

You might want to can some just for an experiment.
 

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