30 Day Homesteading Challenge - October 2021

tortoise

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This challenge looks fun for both newbies and experienced people
 
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Hinotori

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That is really easy. It's cheating for some of us here, though as we so it already.

I highly recommend that even if you live in an apartment, try making a small amount of jam or fruit butter. Frozen fruit is the way to go if you can't get very fresh and need to buy from grocery store. Jams work well for many things. Hubby's favorite at moment is with yogurt.
 

Britesea

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Sprouts are easy even in an apartment. Guinea Pigs are even easier than rabbits to take care of, although you need to make sure they get some vitamin C since, like humans, they do not produce it in their own bodies. Doves, quail, pigeons or chickens- produce eggs as well as meat with varying needs in housing and noise control. (most people will tell you they actually ENJOY the sound of doves cooing in your back yard)
When I was a teenager, we had a Samoyed who needed grooming regularly. I saved the wool from his undercoat and taught myself how to spin with it. (maybe not the HIGHEST quality yarn, but it worked)
 

tortoise

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Already daily life here. :lol: and do I have some add ONs!!! 😁
Even if you're a pro you can use the challenge to level up. Somebody starting out might try making bread for the first time, but an experienced homesteader could grind wheat (or grow it), cultivate fresh yeast our sourdough starter, or focus on a different ingredient they buy at the grocery store.

I use prompts like this so I dont get stuck in a rut. I am stuck in a rut right now. My property has more potential than my habits. 🤣
 

tortoise

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Day 1 - One SS meal

I feel like I need a whole week to prep one meal. 🤣

  • I have home-grown, home-butchered lamb roast.
  • A jar of homemade BBQ sauce didnt seal, so I need to use it up. I didnt grow any of the ingredients in the BBQ sauce, but I started from fresh tomatoes.
  • I can bake bread. I can convert my recipe to use honey or maple syrup (which I can buy local) instead of granulated sugar from the grocery store.
  • I have spring mix that needs to get eaten. I didnt grow it. I can start a tray of baby greens today though!
 

Britesea

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My getting sick has put this on temporary hold, but I have a 3 Sisters SS meal planned. I harvested the Painted Mountain corn we grew, and I will nixtamalize it to make hominy. Then we can make a stew using one of our excess chickens, with the hominy, the dried tepary beans we grew, and the Ute squash we grew, along with onions, greens, and herbs from the garden. DH will grind some wheat and make sourdough bread using nothing but water, salt, and the yeast present on the wheat. The only things not actually produced on our tiny little half acre being the wheat and the salt. My goal is to make this our Thanksgiving Meal this year.
 

Okiepan

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Try to give up your modern conveniences, smart phones , electricity, vehicles, fast or processed food and all the creature comforts we have now , go back to walking or riding a horse or mule , keep a journal then after 30 days tell us about it , would be a neat project if it was feasible, who knows one day we might try it
 

tortoise

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My getting sick has put this on temporary hold, but I have a 3 Sisters SS meal planned. I harvested the Painted Mountain corn we grew, and I will nixtamalize it to make hominy. Then we can make a stew using one of our excess chickens, with the hominy, the dried tepary beans we grew, and the Ute squash we grew, along with onions, greens, and herbs from the garden. DH will grind some wheat and make sourdough bread using nothing but water, salt, and the yeast present on the wheat. The only things not actually produced on our tiny little half acre being the wheat and the salt. My goal is to make this our Thanksgiving Meal this year.
That sounds amazing! I try to make Thanksgiving as home-grown as possible too. We either have lamb or venison - both if we are hosting!

I don't know how to nixtamalize corn. I ordered flour corn seed to plant in spring 2022, so I will need to learn!
 

Okiepan

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To nixtamilize corn use pickling lime in water let it sit overnight then rinse , heat the water up add the lime let it cook for a while them take it off the heat and rinse in the morning, that is how I start my corn nuts process
 
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