Hello, Homesteaders! My wife, Polly and I are starting this weekly blog to, hopefully, help homesteaders, wannabees, beginners and seasoned journeyers.
Over the years, we have read many homesteading stories, blogs, and essays, attended workshops and events and spoken to some of the leaders in the field of small-scale agriculture. Some of them were very enlightening; others – not sure how they even survived.
Let’s start with who we are:
I am a retired Vocational Agriculture (Natural Resources) educator, having taught for over 45 years. I have worked, talked to, attended Agricultural/Natural Resources/Forestry programs with some of the best authorities in the country.
Polly is my better half, an RN with 40 years experience. She works with herbs, essential oils, does canning, some of the gardening and animal care. She recently finished a Master Gardener course and is a Master Gardener apprentice. As soon as she completes the required volunteer time, she will be a Master Gardener. Yeah!
We have a big family with 5 grown children, their spouses and 17 grandkids. Most live nearby and we love to see them.
My wife and I have always believed to get the best answers, you check out the Agricultural Extension services, real life producers, suppliers, and the potential and real markets available. We never use just one source for our information. Sometimes it was difficult to know is the resource was honest and actually knowledgeable and not just self-serving.
Years ago there was a TV show called ‘Green Acres’ about a city slicker moving to the country, His first rural contact was a character known as Mr. Haney. Mr. Haney was always pushing his ideas and gear so he could make a quick buck on the city slicker. You need to avoid your “Mr. Haney”.
A few years ago we went to Custer, Wisconsin for the Largest Alternative Energy Show in the USA. I wanted to talk with experts in hydroelectricity production. No experts in hydro were to be found, but someone did offer to sell me a book or two on the subject. It was a nice show but not what I was looking for, however, one presenter was talking about maple syrup production. I went over to pick his brain. I’ve been making maple syrup on a small scale since I was a kid but even an old guy can learn something new. I asked how this year’s run was and he started to expound on global warming and how the maple syrup industry is being destroyed. It was his worst year ever. My next question was ‘How long have you been in the business?’ His answer, ‘Oh, this is my second year.’ (a note from Polly – at this point Bob spent the next 30 minutes explaining the cyclic nature of maple sap runs and how you need to have at least 10 years to complete a cycle. The poor kid probably wanted to crawl under his table by the time Bob was done teaching him the business. :-) )
This young man was like weather forecasters who breathlessly exclaim that the temps are hotter, colder, more wild than they have ever been. Or the snow is deeper or rain is wetter. Their point of reference is only since they have been alive or maybe since they started working. "Yes, Virginia, the temperature in eastern Ohio has actually been as low as -48 degrees F (not wind chill – actual temp) and snow blizzards have dropped 6 feet of snow with drifts covering telephone poles."
What I am saying is each hour of his life is not the first time a disaster has hit. Every storm is not a snowmagedden. Experience matters and can help with interpretation of information.
In this blog we hope to share from a long life of experiences, sharing our trials and the advice of experts we have met along the way. We aren’t there yet, but hopefully we can help you and you might help us and we can build a community.
Our homestead is 500 acres in Appalachian foothills of eastern Ohio, close to the Ohio River. Our property is either wooded or un-reclaimed strip mine land. We have 350 acres of upland woods, 14 strip pit ponds, and 1.5 miles of stream running through the property. Pastures are being improved every year with rotational grazing and we have 5 acres of low quality hay fields. A 4 acre plot is being developed into prairie/pollinator field as part of our wholistic approach to the land. We will do a blog about that later.
We raise beef cattle, family milk cows, sheep and chickens. We have lived here 15 years and are continuing to improve the land and use our resources as wisely as possible.
We will post a new blog each Friday. Next week Polly will introduce herself and talk about winter on the homestead.
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