Calliopia _ Newbie Adventures in Self Sufficiency

[Calliopia]

So I've been on a kick for about eh.. 4 years now with wanting to provide more of our own necessities. I've always been an avid, my husband would say rabid, recycler, reuser and collector of random objects.

I love cooking projects, gardening, farming and such.

My first experiments of this journal are from today and I started a jar of sauerkraut and made a jar of kombucha from a starter I got from a friend.

We get milk from the goats and eggs from the chickens.


My other current projects started before the journal are a yo-yo quilt made from quilting scraps. A wool rug from recycled sweaters. And home butchered pork and goat that I will be making sausage from.

Upcoming projects are planning the garden (our first in this house), setting up the greenhouse, planting berry patches and adding cherries to the orchard.

 

[Henrietta23]

 

[tamlynn]

Welcome! Sounds like you are an expert already!

 

[freemotion]

Another one from byh!

And we don't have to convince you to get goats!

 

[TanksHill]

Welconme!!! Can you tell us a bit about where you live?

g

 

[AL]

Another one from byh!

And we don't have to convince you to get goats!

Welcome.... from someone who really really wants goats but can't have them. Yet.

 

[Calliopia]

I live in the eastern panhandle of WV. We have a 5 br rancher on 1/2 an acre that is very carefully divided between us and another family that was having some issues so they came to live with us. We have 3 goats (hopefully more in 5 months) 15 chickens 4 dogs and 2 cats.

We have 6 apple/pear trees and plans for peach and cherry. We ripped out the pool when we lived here a couple years ago. (we bought the house in 2004 and then rented it out for the last 3 years while we lived somewhere else. Just moved back in this past September) Hence we have owned the house for almost 7 years and this is my first real garden here. My husband is totally on board with making it a backyard homestead. I simply couldn't do it without him.

On the spot where the pool was we want to put a greenhouse that we lucked into on craigslist. It was a 100ft long hoophouse and we picked it up for about 150.00. We divided it between 2 other families so I'll have about a 24 x 12 greenhouse for about 150-200 once we put new plastic on it. I think for the first year I'm just going to dump a couple truckloads of topsoil/manure on it (we're near a racetrack) and use it for just extending the growing season a bit.


A note on the kombucha project. This was the first time I've ever started a batch and the starter I got smells faboo! I made a batch of tea that was a combo of English breakfast and Green tea w/ Honey, lemon, ginseng. (that also smells pretty good) so I dumped it all together once the tea has cooled and we'll see how it goes. I used one of my goat milk strainer filters over the top and held it down with a canning jar ring. Hopefully that lets in enough air. I just didn't want particles of other stuff getting in and I'm out of real cheese cloth.

 

[Denim Deb]

 

[modern_pioneer]

RUN Henrietta23 RUN!!!! She eats GOATS!!!



Welcome!!!

first it was duck eggs, now its goat meat.... I gotta try this stuff....

What does goat taste like?

I dunno if I could eat my pet goat.... Yes I could....

 

[TanksHill]

Wow, you sound like you have your hands full already!!!