Barefoothavens Journey - Everything Starts Somewhere.

[barefoothaven]

Hi all I'm new to this forum and have posted an introduction post but I'll do this from the start

My name is Leonie & hubby & I along with our 2 youngest sons of 3 live in the Far North of the North Island, New Zealand.
We are born & raised "kiwis" & our property is a 60 acre bush plot. We have about 8 - 9 acres in grazing.
Hubby & I both come from a country up bringing & always wanted to get back to that way of life.
I was 7 months pregnant with our youngest son Hunter when we moved in here. No proper water system or good power supply. The surrounding land was a mess & the house needed a good weeks worth of complete sanitising to say the least.
We fell INLOVE with the land & could see the potential & quality of life so, we went for it.
In the first few months I was here by myself. Lugging buckets of water up from the stream behind the house to wash, clean, flush the toilet. I also stored my perishables in a chilly bin in the stream for a few weeks which worked great.
There was no landline phone or cell coverage near the house & I walked half a mile (exaggerated pregnancy memories lol) to get coverage to call my husband who was still working down in our home town which was a 6 hour drive one way.
He worked 4 days on, 4 days off shifts & drove home every 5 days.
It was a hard time being alone & pregnant without the comforts I was use to, but I kept going day by day.
Now, my husband works closer to home. We have a water wheel & solar panels for power. A wood stove to cook on & heat our home & hot water. A landline phone with basic internet. Vegetable gardens. Orchard. Green house. Pigs, chickens, 1 house cow, 3 dogs, & 1 cat. A 3 bay garage with a nearly finished milking barn. Annnnd a good water pump. We collect rain water off the house roof into a big tank which goes through a filter before entering the house.
We also have a water line feeding from the stream up river which supplies water to the gardens, animals etc.
In order to reach our house area you need to cross 2 river crossings first. But they are level & easy.

I enjoy anything to do with homesteading, gardening, off-grid, etc etc.

Oh & the baby I was carrying, Hunter, is going to be 4 next year.
Our sons are Hunter - 4, Brayden - 18, & Damian - 23 who lives down south.

Don't worry. I'm going to post lots of pics

This was our home when we first moved in.

 

[sumi]

Welcome to SS Wow, I can see why you guys fell in love with that property and decided to take on the challenges and pregnant too! It looks and sounds absolutely amazing...

 

[Denim Deb]

I am so going to enjoy reading your journal. Years ago, I found romance novels by a New Zealander named Essie Summers and realized that why I really liked them is because so many of the stories were on remote properties by people basically living a SS life style.

 

[barefoothaven]

I am so going to enjoy reading your journal. Years ago, I found romance novels by a New Zealander named Essie Summers and realized that why I really liked them is because so many of the stories were on remote properties by people basically living a SS life style.

Where we live is a 30 minute drive from a place called Whangaroa. It's harbour & fishing are well known. Marlin fishing is great here. And there are some beautiful places in the bay. So many little settlements all around Whangaroa Harbour/Bay. We are not too far from a place called Waitangi where the treaty was signed between the Maori & English. Known as The Bay Of Islands.

 

[Denim Deb]

I've heard of Waitangi in at least one of the books I read, not sure about Whangaroa. And these books weren't strictly romance. They had bits of NZ history as well and also some Maori words.

 

[barefoothaven]

I've heard of Waitangi in at least one of the books I read, not sure about Whangaroa. And these books weren't strictly romance. They had bits of NZ history as well and also some Maori words.

Maori words with "wh" are pronounced as a "f" Whangaroa is pronounced - fung-a-raw-a (but you roll the r.
Waitangi is pronounced - why-toungue-ee. It is such a beautiful spot.

 

[barefoothaven]

Welcome to SS Wow, I can see why you guys fell in love with that property and decided to take on the challenges and pregnant too! It looks and sounds absolutely amazing...

Thanks sumi
We do love our home. It's our dream in progress come true!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Welcome from Texas! Can't wait to hear more of your adventure.

 

[barefoothaven]

Morning from NZ
I just realized I was meant to fill out the questionnaire first, so here goes.

1. What state/province/country are you in and what is your climate like? - New Zealand, North Island, Far North
2. How many people are in your family? Marital status? - 5: Husband, Myself, 3 sons.
3. How would you define self sufficiency? - Being able to do for ourselves without depending on others for our needs etc.
4. What would you do with your spare time if you had any resources you needed? - Research, plan, begin.
5. Have you ever built a house , or other types of building? Do you want to? - Not a house yet, but we would like to build an eco friendly home one day. We have built a garage, chicken coop, and milking barn.
6. Can you weld? Steel, aluminum, MiG, TiG, stick, Oxy-Acet? - No but I've always wanted to learn how to weld. Its a very handy skill.
7. Who or what inspired you to become more self sufficient? - For myself, it was my Grandmother who I had never met (My dads mum). She was a homesteader. Baked every Sunday but couldn't eat any because she was a diabetic. Milked 100 cows by hand, ran a farm and household back in the days without power and had some of the strongest forearms I've ever seen on a women lol. Even though we have never met, I feel I have been passed down a lot of her strengths and knowledge, along with the want to live the way we do. It's imprinted on my genes
8 Cloth or paper? - Cloth
9. In what ways are you self sufficient now and in what ways would you like to learn more? We create our own power (off-grid), grow our own vegetables, fruit, chickens, eggs, pigs. Our goal is to get to a stage where we produce most of what we need in food, house needs etc.
10. In what way(s) will you never choose to become self sufficient? - I'd say at the moment we wouldn't be completely self - sufficient because of things like fuel, flour, sugar, medical emergencies. I know we can achieve those with a bit of prep but not at the moment.
11. Are you interested in stocking up for future needs? - Yes, and we do now.
12. Where do you end up when you sink into yourself, away from the outside world? - Mostly, in my vegetable gardens or outside walking in the bush.
13. Can you drive a farm tractor or a semi? - Not yet, but I will
14. Do you make crafts or useful items? Would you want to teach others how to do these? - I can do basic knitting and sewing by hand and on machine. I don't mind sharing what I know so that would be fine.
15. Can you have legally livestock where you are at? Do you have any? What kinds? - At the moment we have 2 pigs, 8 chickens, and 1 house cow who is due to calve for the first time. We lease our grazing land to our neighbors who give us beef in return. But we will start raising our own beef in the future once we are better prepared in knowledge.
16. Can you operate a lathe? Metal, wood? - No but I would love to learn.
17. Do you like to garden? If so, what do you enjoy growing? - I love gardening. As a child I was made to help my mother in her gardens and I couldn't stand it. My how things have changed lol. When you grow things for a need it takes on a whole different meaning. I grow tomatoes, climber green beans, pumpkin, cucumber, sweet corn, zucchini, carrots, silver-beet, collard greens, bak-choi, spinach, garlic, potatoes, leeks, kale at the moment. I love my leafy greens lol.
18. Do you fish? Bait or explosives? - Yes we fish when we get a chance. Bait is quite cheap here or we can get our own. We also have an interest in kayak fishing. I've purchased a few and started fitting them out with the basics. We would like to get more fishing iin once the main homestead needs are in place. I'm planning on a large smoker
19. How much space/land do you have or rent? City? Country? - We own 60 acres of mostly hilly, bush land. Quite dense in places.
20. Are you a Novice, Technician, General, Advanced? ARRL? - I'd say we are still in the novice range but this is our way of life so yea.
21. What is your self sufficient specialty? Or what one would you like to learn? - Gardening, cooking, preserving, strength, hard working. I'd like to learn more building skills, a bit of engineering. And hubby and I are planning on getting our gun licenses soon so I'd like us to learn more gun safety, tacking and hunting.
22. If you could create a degree and curriculum, what would you major in and what classes would you take? -'Homesteader & Self-Sufficient Basics.'
23. Do you do wood work? framing, finish, cabinet? - No
24. Are you interested in herbal medicine? - Yes
25. If you could live any place you chose, where would it be? - Here, or in a more secluded area with direct access to the sea. I use to say on an island but it would have to be wayyyyyy away from anywhere and we would have to seriously know our stuff.
26. Do you use a wood stove for heating or cooking? - Yes. We use our wood stove to heat our hot water, heat our home, and cook on and in. We also have a gas oven but I prefer using my wood stove. For me my wood stove is more efficient and food just tastes better
27. What would your ideal super hero/villain be? - Captain Planet crossed with a bit of God, with some Thor thrown in, along with a smidgen of Gaia...... Villain, hmmm... There's enough real life villains these days. I don't need to think of one.
28. Are your family or friends also interested in self sufficiency? - My husband is and my father & a few brothers. (I have 9 brothers and 2 sisters. I'm the baby)
29. Do you like to cook? Are you interested in whole foods and natural foods? raw milk? farm fresh eggs? - Yes, I love love love to cook. Usually when I'm in a good mood and cooking, if you hear me singing I'm happy happy.
30. What was your MOS?
31. Do you forage or hunt for part of your food needs? - Sometimes
32. What skills do you have that help you be more self sufficient? Practicality, Strength, Determination!!!!
33. In which fictional universe would you most like to live? The one without the violent gene. Where people learn to get along and we aren't treated as slaves and puppets for those higher up.
34. Do you have solar panels? Plans to use solar energy? - Yes, we have 6 at the moment.
35 What is the mass/weight ratio of a European swallow carrying a coconut from the tropics to England? - hahahaha
36. Have you ever lived completely off grid? Would you like to? - Yes, and yes, it's something you have to do to understand. It really does strip away the layers of a person and show them their strengths and weaknesses. Situations you think could break you and do, make you stronger and you learn from it. You become a more efficient machine. You really do start looking at things and thinking differently.
37. In what do you trust? - I trust that you'll be fine with me not answering this one
38. Do you make things yourself to save money? - Sometimes.
39. Has trying to be more self-sufficient changed your attitude or habits about money/spending? - Very much. Money is a pain in the arsenal. You learn to make do when living this way. You start learning to do things yourself. It's a matter of having to. We would prefer to trade

 

[barefoothaven]

Welcome from Texas! Can't wait to hear more of your adventure.

Thank you frustratedearthmother