fall is in the air

Fall is in the air and we just finished the feed troff we had planned. We expect hay to be in short supply so we will feed grain and hay. We normally just feed hay. Ponies stay fat easy. I love that! We do feed minerals. Anyway it turned out so good. I hate the bucket thing. I don't know about anybody else but when my ponies see or hear a bucket they turn into brats. I did wounder if they would all eat together nicely but they did. No problems.

Building A Log Cabin: Electrical

In this episode Becky talks about electrical, news, and answers a question from a viewer.

Becky's Homestead 5: Horse Hoof Care, Farrier

In this episode Becky talks about our new segment: Practical Homestead Horse Care.

Summer Fun

I have spent the last six weeks giving riding lessons ( for barter ) to my neighbors girls. What fun everyone has had. I hate to see it end, but the girls who I have been giving lessons to have to go back home to Michigan. This is the 2ND summer for the girls. Can't wait until next year. I made some obstacles from stuff around the homestead. I use laundry soap bottles 1/2 full of sand for cones. It works out perfect. I made a little jump with left over cement blocks and 2x4x12s. I made mounting stairs from plywood and put them in the pasture along with the other stuff. I made an L using extra PVC pipe. This is the first year I gave the lesson while I rode too. That worked out really good. The kids had so much fun playing follow the leader, me, then I would go to the back and the next kid would lead and so on and so forth. That worked out good too, because then I could see everyone and give instruction as needed. It's amazing how much fun you can have with homemade stuff. You don't have to have a lot of money or fancy things to get out there and enjoy the fresh air and animals. Its good for everyone! Happy Homesteading

About The Animals

Today I'm going to talk about the animals I already have on the homestead and the ones I plan on getting in the future. I have the Haflinger ponies which I use for my personal fun and make a little money from when I give lessons and barter lessons. Next are my two dogs. One is a welsh corgi, pit mix. He is a great little farm dog, but is not good as a watch dog. The second is a Great Dane, black lab mix. He is the watch dog for the farm and is very good at his job. They both serve there purpose. Its the perfect mix. Next is the only pet we have that lives on her personalty alone and that is our potbelly pig (Pickles) She is our mascot. Then I have my Hens for our eggs. I like to have fun with them so when I picked them out I choose a wide variety of colors and different size birds. Now I get all size and color eggs. I love that. Variety is the spice of life. Now, the animals I am getting in the near future are two pigs for meat. Also meat birds which are big chickens and I might try rabbits. I'm dying to make rabbit stew. I met another homesteading family nearby and they do the rabbits. I plan to interview them in an upcoming show. Stay tuned.

The Big Move

We made the big move to our 2 1/2 acres to start our simple life. I didn't know exactly how to do everything so I figured we will take it as we go. I put the house we owned on the market and 4 months later we headed out with all our stuff including ponies,pet pig (Pickles),chickens a dog and a cat with our 52 thousand profet from the house. We drove the 2 hours to our land and pulled in. No house, no water, no electric, no camper, nothing. When I say we started from scratch I mean it.We slept in the car then put up a tin shed and moved in there. We cooked on a campfire and started clearing the land. This was a joint family effort because our 20 year old son had an acre around the corner from our land. His piece,at one time had well, power and septic. after the tin shed was up we cleared around the well and power poll. Within a few weeks we had water for the animals. Before that his nice neighbor let us run a hose. In the mean time I hired someone to clear an acre and put in well, power and septic. After all the log cabin kit was coming. The cabin kit cost 30 thousand and is 22 x 38. I put up a pasture and moved all the animals to our land. My husband bought a 12 x 12 tent. I put 9 pallets 3 in a row and screw plywood on top then put the tent on that. Home sweet home. We have taker things one step at a time. We dug the footers with shovels. I built the stem walls and piers mixing the cement by hand. That was 2 years ago this month. Now July 2007 I sit in my cabin on my sofa. The ruff plumbing is in and I am working on the electric. We have a little way to go, but we have come a long, long way. We have all survived and we love our simple life.

Becky's Homestead: What is Homesteading?

In this episode Becky talks about: What is Homesteading? Oil Lamps, and she answers a question from a viewer. Season 1 ep. 4