Welcome to Locust Trail Homestead - Autumn at Locust Trail Homestead

Tuesday, October 3, 2006

Autumn at Locust Trail Homestead

Well I had a pretty nice blog earlier, but I somehow managed to delete it, along with a very nice comment. Thats a newbie for ya, so I'll do this again and try not to make the same mistake twice.

First I have to say , I have really enjoyed the blogs I have been reading, just wonderful inspiration. I wish I had this when I was raising up my young children. I have grandkiddies, so I get to share and get new fun ideas from you youngins to relay to my DD's and DS.

Ok time to blog and introduce myself (again). My DH and I live out in the country almost 26 yrs on our homestead. We were blessed to raise our family out here on 20 acers. We lived in a pretty run down trailer that had been on the property forever, until we were able to build an earthcontact home, the kids arms were coming out the trailer windows, w/ 3 kids sharing a room and my homebase buisness in another bedroom, it was time to build. I loved our trailer, theres something about your first home that you raise your little one in. That old,old,old trailer is still standing, every year theres plans to tear it down. But plans have changed. That trailer was home for our family, hard to tell how many before us. I have raised all our chickens in a room after we moved into the home we built, it stores all those things that I wonder "why do we still keep this??" Oh no, I'm thinking more like my hubby!!!!! But a new idea has come up, to fix it up like a log home, could be a great home again. But until then, It will be used this fall for 100 cornish cross chickens for our food, and this spring I'll raise 50 Plymouth Barred Rock hens, our old hens are still laying, their good ol gals. We put out a good size garden 100 ft by 100 ft. w/ raised beds.Doing away with tilling, using cardboard w/ everything that is good for an organic garden to decompose , right on the raised beds. I have been saving seeds and working more toward heirloom varieties. Theres so many , yet there are many that are lost forever. Plans on expanding w/ fruit trees , raspberries in the spring w/ blueberries & vineyard ready to be planted. I also grow herbs, my passion sense I was in my teens, I still got my first herb book, boy is it dated. My plan someday is to have a walking tour garden and sharing about homesteading. I like to do food storage for incase of times, times like we had a few years back, ice storm that took eletricity 2 weeks to get back on. We did not have a generator, so freezer stuff was lost, well not really, we cooked a lot of stuff in the fireplace, but some had to go to the chickens, so not really a lost, and then if not to animals, COMPOST, nothing is wasted. I love it out here in the country, we have 6 acers that is open pasture and our garden w/ the rest being woods. Theres trails in the woods, that I love to walk on, oh I have biked on the trails, last year a tree and I had a falling out , I fell, tree won : / . We have 3 grandkiddies that love it out here, although they live close and live right in the sticks too. DD and SIL are raising little homesteaders. My plans for gettin a couple of sheep this spring. My new thing is knitting and I have learn to knit socks, oh boy , I love it, four double pointed needles and all. I learn this summer and have made 2 pr compleated and 1 1/2 pr, & 1 sock (that be my first), so I think I'm doing pretty good. I have made simple scarfs before so this has been really fun, I can't believe I knitted wool socks in the hottest summer on record. But heres the plan , go from sheep to socks, and to top it off , taking spinning lessons this month. Got a spinning wheel and w/ herbs I can make natural dyes w/ the yarn that I spin. So I'll be set to go. Can't wait for that. Plans for learning how to make soap this fall, got the lye, need to get all the other stuff. Bees are on the for sure list ,coming this spring, Great for the garden and that wonderful honey. I could go on and on, got to keep in mind its a blog not a book, or is it!!!!!! well enough of me, I'm going to read some of your alls blogs tonight. Thanks for stopping by, drop on in anytime. Add me to your friends list cus homesteaders make the best kind of friends, tc and God Bless,
linda

Springtime on the Homestead

Spring

Spring:

Garden Area