How are you an expert?

[NH Homesteader]

There are a lot of aspects to being self sufficient. Just look at all the forum topics!

I'm curious- what do you really know a lot about in regards to self sufficiency? What do you want to learn more about? We have a lot of expertise here, this may get questions going and help us connect to help each other be more self sufficient!

I'll even start. I have mostly focused on animal husbandry (we raise goats, poultry and pigs) and homeschooling/education as well as cooking from scratch (or close to it).

I want to know more about gardening (not a green thumb here), preserving (canning really), and natural cleaning/health care products.

 

[Farmfresh]

Just pick a spot and get started. Learn one task and learn to do it well then pick a different skill. Step by step you will get more and more handy at tasks. That is how I learned.

When we first got married we lived in a one bedroom town home with only a tiny patch of earth on the side that I could plant "flowers" in. My flowers were usually things like a pumpkin or tomatoes. LOL Since I had no space for a real garden I spent my time learning other tasks. Living there is where I learned to knit, crochet, can, pickle, make jams, bake breads and really learned to cook from scratch.

Self sufficiency and homesteading are a frame of mind. It doesn't matter who you are, how young or old or where you live, any one can do it!

 

[Wannabefree]

Procrastination. I am THE BEST!

 

[freemotion]

There is always more to learn but I am pretty self-sufficient in many ways. Mostly food. I grow most of our food and make everything from scratch. I process our pigs and poultry, making the lard, bacon, sausage, etc. I grind any flour we use. I make all condiments and freeze, can, and dehydrate many, many items. I do some foraging, mostly for fruit. I make interesting country wines and meads with very little financial input. The only things we buy are single ingredient items, mostly, with rare exception. Chocolate it an occasional treat but I get the good stuff.

I'm working on my sewing skills, getting private instruction in fitting and have the goal of sewing my entire wardrobe eventually, at least something from every category, including outerwear and shoes. I will always buy socks, shoes, and coats, but will be able to manage if I ever had to, and I will have some of these items in my wardrobe. I am getting closer to that goal, am at the point where it is no longer non-stop frustration and I am turning out some really nice stuff, finally.

The biggest change since I was active here last is probably the beehives, and I switched all my gardens to the BTE method, using heavy ramial woodchip mulch. Free, of course!

 

[Farmfresh]

Sniff. Sniff.

If I am an expert at any subject it would probably be horses. I trained, showed and gave lessons for many years until my health issues stopped me. I have EXPERIENCE at most other (and it is a wide range) homesteading subjects since I have been doing this now for almost 50 years!! (I got my first duck when I was about 7 or 8 and bantam chickens soon after that)

I currently raise Katahdin sheep, chickens for meat and eggs and Bourbon Red Turkeys, although I have never raised goats, pigs or cattle. (I do have close family with cattle, but that is as close as it gets. )

I have some major health issues that limit me these days, but nothing has stopped me yet.

 

[Farmfresh]

Rams are like roosters. They should NEVER be pets. When a ram is petted (especially on the head) and loved on it fixes in his brain that he is equal to the human. When he becomes an adult he uses the ways of sheepdom to exhibit his breeding dominance which results in the dangerous behavior. Same as a rooster. A rooster that flogs people considers them his equal. He works to ascertain his dominance in the pecking order with dangerous spurs.

I am kind to my animals, but never get chummy with any breeding male. I WANT them to have a certain amount of fear of me. A little "large" body language and a loud unexpected voice can keep them wondering what I am capable of if they start getting a bit too close.

Another trick I learned over the years... never allow a rooster to breed a hen in front of you without a bit of a chase. In a flock the head rooster (which needs to be you) will never consent to a lesser rooster breeding one of "his" hens. They still get the job done (behind your back or behind the head roosters back) but this simple act will usually prevent a rooster from ever challenging your authority in a dangerous way.

 

[freemotion]

Here or in another topic? I make the ketchup recipe from the old Fannie Farmer cookbook and it is fabulous. I make mustard with mustard and turmeric powders, whole mustard seeds, salt, ACV, and garlic and onion wines. Yum. Mayo....an egg and a yoke, salt, pepper, onion and garlic powders, and drizzle a bit less than a cup of good EVOO until thick. Gorgeous. I salt/ferment diced garlic and scallions and these will last over a year. Oh, and mix the ketchup and mustard for a quick BBQ sauce, and make that even better by adding additional heat (cayenne, horseradish, whatever) and better sticking power with some very reduced broth and some honey.

Made salt for a few years, on the woodstove from sea water.

For flour, I use both hard white and soft white wheats for bread flour, pastry flour, and mixing them gets all purpose flour. I grind kamut in my Vitamix to make pasta.

 

[Wannabefree]

We all do, if ya ain't learning ya might as well be dead!

 

[freemotion]

I need help with mustard. I tried a recipe from a canning book. Hubby said it was too sweet. I made it without sugar. Hubby said it was bitter. What gives? Can you share a detailed recipe for someone who hates mustard and can't season by taste?

A very basic mustard is just mustard powder. For hotter mustard, mix with cold water and let it sit a while and then add an acid, like ACV. The acid stops the heat from continuing to build. Let it sit for at least 24 hours as it will go through a bitter stage.

For less heat, use warm water and then add the ACV in 10-30 minutes. Let it sit overnight, then adjust the moisture level (mustard soaks up a LOT of liquid) to your liking and jar it up.

To get ideas for flavoring, look at gourmet mustards in the store and look at the ingredient list. Or Google (shopping) fancy mustards or gourmet mustards.

How long it keeps and whether it must be refrigerated depends on the flavorings. For example, if you use fresh or caramelized onions, it won't keep as long and will need refrigeration. This is why I used the wines in mine, so I could make a year's worth plus some for gifting.

Add turmeric for color and health benefits. Add whole seeds for texture and a gourmet....or rustic....feel. Whole seed mustards are the rage in the upscale restaurants, I'm told. I love the texture of them.

Brown seeds tend to be hotter.

 

[Farmfresh]

Thought you also might enjoy a couple of pictures of my Katahdin herd. I only have two ewes and their lambs at this point, but I may expand to a third ewe for next season.

Here is last years lamb crop all boys. The little black was sold as a ram prospect when he was weaned at about 4 months. His mother was Dot and he had a still born brother twin at birth.

Here is a picture of Dot my three year old ewe. She is standing in front of my other sheep Molly's twins from last year. Both of these lambs were banded and went as meat. One went into my freezer.

Not the best picture but this is Molly.

This is the father of the babies above and this year's crop as well. His name was Bob Bob Black Sheep. We sold him late last fall.

And this is this year's lamb crop. This season we only have one boy for the freezer. (black with white face) The current plan is to keep the brown and white girl (Ewela May), the black and white girl (Rosemary) and sell Molly and the black girl (Thyme). I will also be purchasing a ram lamb this fall to breed with.