Homesteading

Snowfall at the New House

January 21, 2018 · family, Homesteading, new house

Although we have had two other snow events at the new house so far, this is our first BIG snow. We got about 9 inches which is a LOT for here in North Carolina. It was incredibly beautiful and wonderfully peaceful.

The girls were so excited to get out and play in it–sledding, building snowmen, and of course drinking hot chocolate to warm up once we came inside 🙂

Our chickens, on the other hand, did not think too highly of the strange white cover on the ground. Most of the hens did not come out of their little coop and set foot on the ground until about 4 days after the snow had fallen! Our rooster was the only brave one…

The views from every direction were stunning. I loved seeing our little homestead in a blanket of snow and thankfully my husband was able to capture some great photos on the second day before it all began to melt.

What are your favorite things to do in the snow? Hope everyone is staying warm!

Thoughts on the New Year

January 2, 2018 · family, gardening, Homesteading, new house

This past fall and the Holidays have been a blur–I seriously wanted to skip Christmas this year. Is anyone else with me?!? With everything else going on it became pretty stressful (and I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately on why we celebrate it in the first place). A new year always prompts me to reflect upon what I want to change and improve for the future. How is it that several of my New Year’s goals from years ago are still yet to be fulfilled? Living a simpler, healthy lifestyle while attempting to homestead is so much harder now that I have children. Perhaps now that our big move is completed and we are setting our sights towards the spring garden, our homestead goals will be easier to reach (hopefully).

Still, it feels like we are often overwhelmed with work, kids, activities, church, and day-to-day life (even with me working part-time) and keeping on top of trying to produce and locally source our own healthy farm-to-table food becomes a burdensome task. I so easily fall back into my old ways when I need to get in the habit of planning and preparing nourishing and seasonal foods. Baking my own bread weekly, preparing fermented foods and drinks, soaking nuts and legumes prior to use, canning and preserving seasonal produce, and finding local sources of grass-fed meats and organic dairy are some of my top priorities for the new year. Other priorities include exercising more often in a way that fits in at home and more time for not just Bible study but longer, dedicated periods of prayer and fasting. I’m also hoping to observe the Biblical feasts that are set apart as the Father’s holy days this year!

But where do I find the time for it all? Sometimes I can fit it in on the weekends, sometimes at night, other times during the day when the girls are napping or otherwise occupied. But during busy weeks or months it’s awfully easy to fall behind. I usually don’t get everything done that I aim for. Basically, I have huge, never-ending to-do list (does this sound familiar, anyone?)

As I’m sure you have been able to tell, I’ve neglected this blog (yet again), and I’m afraid I won’t always be posting regularly in 2018. I still hope to provide updates on the house (room tours for sure!), the homestead, and the garden, but the blog is not something high up on my to-do list and I’m not quite sure when or if I will find the time to update as often as I’d like. Unlike so many lovely blogs out there, it is not a source of income for me and I purely engage in blogging for personal enjoyment and to keep my family and close friends informed of what’s happening in our little corner of the world.

So here’s to a brand New Year! May the Lord Bless you and keep you in 2018!

Transitioning Chickens to a New Home

November 11, 2017 · chickens, Homesteading, new house

Ever wondered how chickens would do when moving to a new house?

Chickens take a while to adjust to their environment when transitioning to a new home and it’s important to make the move as easy and painless as possible for them to avoid placing too much stress on your flock. Yup, they get stressed out just like we do when having to move!

We moved in our new house one month ago and are still getting adjusted. Our flock is making do in a temporary coop and pen until we are able to build something more permanent for them. Below is a step-by-step guide based on our experience with moving our flock:

1. Have the new coop, food, water, nest boxes, and everything set up in place BEFORE you move your flock to the new house or property. We plan to build a new coop (in conjunction with our barn) but for now we have a temporary set up with a large electric fence pen that will work for the time being.

2. When you are ready to transport them, gather them up (night time is when they are most docile) and place them in a pet carrier, large ventilated box with bedding, or chicken carrier/cage and carefully place into your vehicle. If you will be traveling a far distance, provide some food and water in whatever type of carrier in which you will transport the chickens.

3. Once you have arrived at your new residence, place the carrier into the new pen or coop and open the door and allow the chickens to come out on their own. Throw some treats out to encourage them to step out and explore.

4. Keep the chickens inside of the coop with access to a run or pen for several weeks before letting them roam free (they might try to return to their old home).

5. Visit the chickens regularly to make sure they are adjusting to their new environment. You may even want to add some fun new things to their new coop/pen like new roosts, nest box areas, a sand box for dust bathing, and areas where they can be in the sun or in the shade.

We are hoping our chickens will like their new homestead–they will certainly have a lot more room to roam once we allow them to free range (which will only be on occasion). Breeding will also be a top priority for my flock once we have the new coop built. As you can see, we literally haven’t done anything with the outside of our house since we’ve moved in. No landscaping yet–just one little project at a time.

Have you ever transitioned your flock to a new home? Please feel free to share any tips!

Bare Bones New House Tour

October 19, 2017 · decorating the roost, family, Homesteading, new house

It’s moving time!! Excited? Check. Stressed out? Check. A little nervous? Check. Thankfully, all went well and we are starting to settle in nicely. It feels like a dream and we are so in love with our new home 🙂

I thought I would share with you a few photos that I snapped of the finished new house before the big day of the move. It looks so clean, peaceful, and lovely–here’s to hoping it won’t become too cluttered with all our stuff.

It’s amazing to see how much stuff one can accumulate over the course of several years–we are really trying to purge whatever we can and pare down to the necessities, things we love, and keep in storage only the few things we can’t bear to part with yet.

Anyway, now moving on with the house tour…..

Let’s start with the entry (viewed from the dining room). Also included in this photo is the door revealing the powder room. There is a pop of pattern (surprise!) from wallpaper that I just love in that room, but you’ll have to wait for a later post for more photos 🙂

Next we have the dining room:

The “great room” is two-stories high and features a fireplace with brick surround and old-growth heart pine mantel, built-in bookcases, and beadboard above the fireplace mantel. Floors throughout the first floor (except in the master bedroom and bath) are standard red oak hardwood floors stained in dark walnut.

Here is the view from the great room looking into the kitchen where the kitchen table or “breakfast nook” will be:

I am so in love with our kitchen. We opted for a wide galley style with no island since I wanted a big open farmhouse kitchen. If need be, we can always pull in a cart to the middle for extra prep space but honestly we have plenty of counter space as it is. The cabinets are shaker style all custom made by our builder who specializes in cabinetry, with a custom range hood to match. The big cast iron farm sink is one of my favorite things in this room and I absolutely love the view of our future garden out of the casement windows.

The view from the kitchen into the little bar nook that accesses the pantry and the laundry room:

Our wonderfully large laundry room also doubles as a mud room. It’s a great storage and utility space which we desperately needed.

Continuing on to the master bedroom, located on the first floor:

In between the bedroom and the master bathroom (shown below) is a hallway with a walk-in master closet on one side and a large linen closet on the other. Glorious storage!

A large vanity and mirrors built by our builders provide ample storage and counter space. The master bath shower features white subway tile, grey quartz and a “pebble” shower floor. We plan on adding in a bathtub later to the room. A water closet is located on the other side of the vanity.

Walking up the stairs to the second floor, a nice view from above of the great room:

Upstairs we have a miniature “loft” leading to two bedrooms each with their own bath and a bonus room. The bedrooms and baths mirror each other in their layout. Below is the girls’ bathroom:

And the girls’ bedroom is, of course–pink!!

The guest bath turned out so adorable with all the classic grey and white tile, an antique washstand used as a vanity with a vessel sink and wall-mount faucet.

The guest room:

And finally, the room with the most beautiful view: our screened-in porch. These pictures were taken before the floor was stained in a dark slate color. We can’t wait to entertain out here and relax in the peaceful countryside.

Hope you enjoyed the brief tour. It’s been a crazy week getting everything moved and unpacked. I can’t wait to share with you each room once I have it set up and decorated. It’s been tiring but oh so much fun!

Cooking from Deep Run Roots Cookbook

August 26, 2017 · Homesteading, recipes

Y’all–I’m obsessed with this cookbook.

If you haven’t watched the show “A Chef’s Life” or heard of Vivian Howard and you love southern food–you are missing out! We have watched the show since Season 1 came out and I fell in love with all the recipes, the stories, and the culture of Eastern North Carolina foodways.

Vivian Howard stars in “A Chef’s Life” and recently released her first cookbook–Deep Run Roots. If you are not familiar with her story, after being in New York working in the restaurant industry for some top chefs, she returned to where she grew up and started her own restaurant–Chef and the Farmer in Kinston, North Carolina. It features local ingredients and showcases food grown from farmers all within something like a 75 mile radius of the restaurant. We have been once to the restaurant and it was amazing!

I got the cookbook for Christmas this past year and I haven’t been able to put it down–I just love how it’s organized and I can’t wait to try all of the mouthwatering recipes. The commentary, stories, and photographs are wonderful as well. The cookbook is quite large–it contains 24 chapters each showcasing a different but significant Eastern North Carolina ingredient.

I’m gradually working my way through the cookbook and have been pretty pleased with the results of the recipes thus far. Some of them are a bit more involved and time consuming than you might want to take on for a simple week night meal, so I try to save them for weekends or a special occasion. So far, I have tried a handful of recipes including:

Sage Honey-Glazed Pork Tenderloin with Bacon-Roasted Rutabagas
Mom’s Cornpone
Turnip Root and Green Gratin
Crispy Ginger Rice with Leeks, Shiitakes and a Fried Egg
Grandma Hill’s Hoecakes
Salt and Butter Roasted Pecans
Brussels Sprouts, Apples and Pomegranate with Blue Cheese Honey Vinaigrette
Slow-Roasted Beef Short Ribs with Herb-Scented Turnip Puree and Turnip Gremolata
My Favorite Beet Salad
Squash and Onions
Blueberry Rosemary Pudding
Grilled Corn with Bacon Mayo and Pecorino Romano
Shirred Eggs with Stewed Tomatoes and Ham Chips
Blueberry Cobbler with Cornmeal Sugar Cookie Crust
Squash and Fontina Casserole Pudding

Today I’m going to make Fried Okra Hash since okra is in season and we are getting it from our CSA!

The recipe is as follows (on p. 402 of Deep Run Roots):

1/2 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
2 cups okra sliced 1/3 inch thick (about 15 medium okra)
2/3 cup vegetable oil

Combine cornmeal, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and cayenne in a medium bowl. Rinse okra well with water and toss the damp okra with the cornmeal mixture. Set aside. In a cast-iron skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add okra once oil begins to sizzle, spreading it out in a single layer. Lower the heat slightly and sizzle on one side for 4 minutes.

Toss the okra around and cook an additional 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer okra to paper-towel-lined-plate to drain with a slotted spoon. Season with remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Serve warm.

I’d love to know if any of you have Vivian’s cookbook and which recipes are your favorites. Happy cooking (and eating)!