Life in Tee Harbor, Alaska

Reviewing Long Term Homesteading Goals

I was looking back through my posts and found my list from September 2006 of my homesteading goals.  So I thought I would re-post and I actually get to cross a few things off!  :o)

Here is my list to work toward - not in order of importance:

1.  Pay off all debt (credit card, 401k loan, truck, house)

2.  Buy land from Dad - 5 acres

3.  Plant fruit trees - apples, cherries, plums - 20 total

4.  Plant berry bushes - raspberries, boysenberries, thornless blackberries

5.  Build second strawberry bed and plant runners in it

6.  Build greenhouse

7.  Build storage shed

8.  Build chicken coop with enclosed yard

9.  Raise chickens for eggs and meat

10.  Build root cellar

11.  Raise enough vegetables to enjoy fresh and stored through the year

12.  Fish and hunt for all our meat needs

13.  Build deck on front of house

14.  Install gutters on house (got a quote on these - $730)

15.  Solar panels/wind power for house

16.  Woodstove for heat (looking for a Fisher woodstove - Baby Bear model)

17.  Build fence around garden

18.  Construct cistern system for water collection and storage

19.  Build pond in backyard with bridge

20.  Have a year's supply of food, paper goods, medicines, etc.

21.  Develop home craft business to eventually support our cash needs

Picture Tour of My Homestead

We have been getting out and working in the yard as much as we can this past week.  The yard needs lots of work yet - everything looks so wild and out of control.  I have these buttercups that take over EVERYWHERE - they are hard to keep up on.  I don't have a lawn at all, and we really don't want one.  Would rather have garden areas for flowers, shrubs, and edibles.  So, it is a work in process...any ideas are welcome!  We try to keep things looking natural - rock borders, etc. mostly because it is cheap  :o)

Our home is on five acres owned by my dad who runs a marine repair business and uses this property to store boats.  I have claimed more area as mine each year I've been here - now over 10.  Here is the house seen as you drive in the driveway.  We have been working in the side yard on the right to get things tidy - but it sure is hard when you lack storage space.

Here you can see the whole layout.  One of the big projects this summer will be to clean the log siding and get it sealed.  Sure looks bad when it is wet! 

On the left behind the trucks, is the future home of our chicken coop.  That big pile of dirt is getting moved and used around the property.  Then the coop will be on the left with a fenced area for them to run around when I'm not home.  I would like to be able to let them out and roam around when I am home.

Just beyond the dirt pile is my veggie garden.  I have peas, strawberries, potatoes, beets, red currents, raspberries planted and onions to go in (I got 1/4 planted tonight).  It is about 25' x 20'.

To the right of the garden we have our camper, which we could move to beyond the shed and open up this area - for more garden  :o)  Under the tarp is my chicken coop project.

To the right of the camper, I have four smaller raised beds.  They are about 2 1/2' by 4'.  I have zucchini, cabbage, carrots and radishes planted in them.  Then our little greenhouse is 8' x 8' which will hold our tomatoes and cucumbers.  The hill behind I tried to tame a bit - I've planted a rhodedendron and a cherry tree up there.  I get all my dirt from the hill for planting beds - talk about alot of work!  I have an area dug out that I think would be a great spot for a root cellar...one project at a time!

The rhubarb is doing well here.  The raspberries have moved themselves from the other side of the greenhouse - guess they wanted more sun. 

Tomatoes and cucumbers waiting to be planted:

To the right of the greenhouse, I have my compost piles - made out of pallets and I have one of the black plastic ones with a cover.  I put the kitchen scraps in the one with the cover so the dogs/bears don't get into it.  Leaves and other garden stuff go into the other 3 open bins.  The blue tarp is where our wood shed will be going - right now we are keeping our extra lumber there.

Okay, now we turn around and are looking at the side yard toward the front of the house and the driveway.  The road is on our left, parallel with the house.  Here is where we have been working on a new pathway, laying it out with the rock and filling it in with rock.  To try to keep the buttercups down, we layered sheets of newspaper under the rock.  We have the clothesline on pulleys from the back door to a tree - works well.  We have a bird feeder hooked up to a pulley so we can get it way up off the ground where the bears can't get to it, but it is easy to lower down to fill up.  The birds really love this area and it is so entertaining to watch them from the dining room window.

And now we are back to the front of the house and where we started!

On the other side of those trees, we have a little pond.  We get mallards, geese and eagles here.

Well, that's it for our place.  Thanks for looking  :o)

The Have More Plan

I have this week off of work and am really enjoying my free time.  Rod is hunting this week - will get back on Friday.  It has been really cold here the past couple days - clear but down in the single digits!  It is supposed to warm up to 26* tomorrow.  I hope he and the guys are staying warm in the cabin!

Today I pulled out my old issues of Mother Earth News.  Issue #2 from March 1970 is fantastic for homesteaders!  It has excerpts from the book "The Have More Plan" by Ed and Carolyn Robinson which was originally written in the 1940's.  A lot of the information is still relavant today.  They talk about their experience moving from the city to the country, but are still close enough for Ed to commute to work every day.  They share how they did things, and how to avoid problems they ran into.  They encourage everyone to produce at least some of their own food.  One reason is for more nutritious food - the fresher the better and the healthier the soil is that the food is grown in, the higher the vitamin and mineral content.  Another reason is to have the physical contact with the earth and livestock which is a great stress reducer.  Other reasons to produce some of your own food are the basic security it provides, cooperation of family, greater enjoyment of life, and the direct economic benefits. 

So I have been motivated to draw out our property how I would like it to be - with fruit trees, berries, chicken coop, bee hive, compost pile, vegetable garden, flowers, deck, small barn for goats, etc.  We have some of these things now, but they aren't placed in an organized, most efficient manner.  A couple months back Rod suggested we do this - and he is right.  It is much better to have a plan of where everything should go!  Don't you just hate it when he is right?!  :o)

You can read these excerpts from their book on the Mother Earth News website - they are quite inspiring!  I hope you have as much fun reading them as I did.

Why We Moved to The Country
A Letter to Wives
What Sort of Place in the Country Do You Want?
Setting Up a Homestead
Houses Especially Designed for Country Living
Plan A "Harvest Room" With Your Wife
Finding a Suitable Place
A Little House Can Grow
Score Card of What to Look for in a "Have-More" Homestead
Water, Sanitation, Electricity, Roads
Landscape Your Place - Increase the Value 20%
Plans for a Small Barn
The Importance of Raising Part of Your Family's Food
A Good Garden With a Lot Less Work
Vegetable Planting Chart
Herbs
The Kind of Berries and Grapes Money Can't Buy
Two Ways to Have Tree Fruits on a Small Place
Fresh Eggs From Your Own Hens
New Easy Way to Raise Tender Chicken
Geese Grow on Grass
Turkeys Can Be a Profitable Side Line
Ducks are Easy to Raise
Squab
Rabbit - 8 to 14 Cents a Pound
Ham, Bacon, Pork, Lard
The Miniature Dairy
The Modern Dairy Goat
A Family Cow
A Few Sheep for the Small Place
Veal and Beef on the Homestead
Our Little Sugar Factory
Have More in Winter Too!
Winter Gardens - Cold Frames, Hot Beds, Small Greenhouses
Grow Your Own Fish
The Woodlot
Transportation and Power
Housekeeping on a Homestead
Homestead Mechanics
Earning a Living in the Country