This past Saturday on Your Preparation Station Donna Miller had the honor of conducting a two hour interview with LaMar Alexander. For anyone interested in going ‘off grid’, simplifying your life and getting out of the day to day rat race of paying huge bills…this is a must-listen  interview!

You can listen by going to the link above or at the play down below this update. Either way, I would suggest anyone who visits this blog to listen to this  show!

LaMar walks the talk  and he is delighted to share his journey! Two things that make for his genuine presence over the air waves. He’s been doing this for a while and it shows.

I hope you will talk a listen, he will be continuing this interview later this month so you can come on live and chat in with your own questions!

which offers Chemical Free and Organic Grains, Grain Mills, Bread Machines,Grain buckets, Bosch Mixers, the NutriMill, instructional tutorials, recipes and more.

It can be relatives, friends or neighbors, an occasional visitor or a planned weekly chore sharing – no matter how you go about it, running a homestead takes some team work at least some of the time.

If you’re new to homesteading, book learning and ‘how-to’ articles will never take you as far as you want to go. Take the time to get to know a few other people in your area. Maybe you like their garden plot and see how great their veggies grow! Ask them some tips!

Don’t have livestock yet? Well ask your neighbor if you can come learn and help him with his chickens, goats, horse or dairy cow. I’d bet he’d love the extra hands and you’ll get some tips and hand’s on training before you ever purchased a little life to raise of your own!

Don’t try to go it alone on the homestead. You will sit looking at an insurmountable ‘to-do’ list (since the list never gets finished on the homestead) and you’ll live in a solitary void of only your own experiences.

Share, learn and grow….more than just your garden!

Best Blessings!

The Millers

The Millers own and operate

Millers Grain House

which offers Chemical Free and Organic Grains, , Bread Machines,Grain buckets, Bosch Mixers, the NutriMill, instructional tutorials, recipes and more.

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The dream of having that large spread of land and the acres of fertile soil to grow and homestead on seems farther out of reach than ever. Don’t give up on the dream, learn some much needed skills (and scratch that homesteading itch) by becoming an urban homesteader.

This is not as new of a twist on homesteading as the recent media may make it seem. Many people who have dreamed of owning a large homestead have learned to make a life of homesteading in a more urban environment.

Here are a few things that can get you started:

• Compost – fruits and veggies can be composted with little annoyance to the neighbors.
• Grow Boxes – or indoor growing gardens like  turn counter space into garden space.
• Study/learn skills – Libraries, on line, good subscriptions to magazines help keep the dream alive. So does this book -
• Practice skills – Contact your local Co-op or Agricultural extention for classes and fairs.

Look at all areas of your urban environment more creatively and you can learn many needed skills that any homesteader needs. From tending small animals (some areas will let you keep a chicken or goat or two) to gaining that green thumb, you can preserve and go back to basics right where you are!

Homesteading on a Sub-urban Scale

Happy Homesteading – no matter where you live!

Best Blessings!

The Millers

Winter is in full swing!

As winter marches on and on and temperatures drop deep this season, we hope to keep the tips coming to keep your homestead humming!

Around the Home – Check Foundations:
Rake away all debris and edible vegetation from the foundation of your home.
Seal up entry points to keep small animals from crawling under the house.

Tuck-point or seal foundation cracks. Mice can slip through space as thin as a dime.
Inspect sill plates for dry rot or pest infestation.

Secure crawlspace entrances.

Around the Garden – Time to Mulch:

Apply winter mulch to perennials where winter temperatures generally fall below minus 10 degrees F.

Simply lay lightweight cover of organic mulch, such as shredded autumn leaves, pine needles or straw, over beds to protect plants from winter’s extremes.
Avoid more compact mulches and whole leaves (which can mat), since they can suffocate plants. This leaves slimy ground and is not a good cover.

For the Animals – Extra Comfort:

Lay down extra bedding so that animals can rest in warmth and comfort.

Straw, tree bark or wood shavings provide a soft surface to sleep on as well as additional insulation.
Don’t use rugs or rags–they can absorb liquids and freeze. Those are not comfortable when wet!

So….now that you’ve braved the weather to check around the homestead…go grab some hot cocoa and snuggle by that fireplace! Take care of yourself too!

Best Blessings!
The Millers

Donna Miller is an author, teacher and entrepreneur. Her favorite roles are that of wife and mother to three home-school graduates. The Millers own and operate Millers Grain House which offers Chemical Free and Organic Grains, Grain Mills, Bread Machines, Grain buckets, Bosch Mixers, the NutriMill, , recipes and more.

This Wednesday’s Winterizing Tips cover fireplaces, flowers and feed.

 

 

 

Clean and cozy!

Around the home, check your fireplace and set up:

• Cap or screen the top of the chimney to keep out rodents and birds.
• If the chimney hasn’t been cleaned for a while, call a chimney sweep to remove soot and creosote.
• Store firewood in a dry place away from the exterior of your home.
• Inspect the fireplace damper for proper opening and closing.
• Check the mortar between bricks and tuck-point, if necessary

Around the yard, flowerbeds and perennials need tending:

• Pull up any annual flowers or vegetables felled by frost. Dispose of these in the compost heap; if you suspect disease, throw them in the garbage.
• Cut back almost to the ground any perennials whose foliage has become unsightly. The seed heads and dried foliage of some perennials add interest during the winter months, while others just look plain old messy.
• Weed. This action prevents weeds from getting a head start next spring, saving you work in the long run. If they are hardy enough to last through the first frost, they will be big pests if left alone until spring.

For the Animals, Winterizing Feed is important

• Feed your animals more than usual in the winter. Animals exposed to harsh winter weather need extra calories and body fat for warmth.
• Make sure the storage of the feed is good and there is no condensation or icy build-up.
• Check on the water trough every day. The water supply should be designed in a way that prevents freezing in the line, which could cut off the animals’ access to water. Hydration is very important to all live creatures in the winter. Us too!

Donna Miller is an author, teacher and entrepreneur. Her favorite roles are that of wife and mother to three home-school graduates. The Millers own and operate Millers Grain House which offers Chemical Free and Organic Grains, Grain Mills, Bread Machines, Grain buckets

, Bosch Mixers, the NutriMill, instructional tutorials, recipes and more.

Inside the home:

Specific to your Furnace…

• Call an HVAC professional to inspect your furnace and clean ducts.
  Stock up on furnace filters and change them monthly.

  Consider switching out your thermostat for a programmable thermostat.

  Remove all flammable material from the area surrounding your furnace.

Outside the home:

• Trim trees if branches hang too close to the house or electrical wires.
  Ask a gardener when your trees should be pruned to prevent winter injury.
  Plant spring flower bulbs and lift bulbs that cannot winter over such as dahlias in areas where the ground freezes. 
  , Bosch Mixers, the NutriMill, instructional tutorials, recipes and more. 

It’s satisfying to spread your table with your garden produce when you’re an avid homesteader and gardener. Your organically grown vegetables aid in enhancing your health and provide you with excellent nourishment. The following ideas can improve your homesteading and gardening:

1.   Cultivate Potatoes in Barrels

Potatoes can be grown in plastic 50 gallon barrels, which are difficult for rodents to chew. Stack the barrels on a raised platform, then drill a few holes at the base for drainage purposes. Take a few potatoes, which have begun to sprout, and slice them into squares. Dry them out to prevent wet rot, then plant them in the barrels with some soil and compost. As the plant reaches the top of the barrel, plant horseradish or bush beans as a companion plant to ward off pests. When the potatoes are ripe for harvest, kick over the barrel and collect your crop.

2.    Plant Herbs and Flowers with Your Garden Produce

You can attract pollinators to your vegetable garden by inter-planting your crop with a variety of herbs and flower species. Flowers in rich hues of blue and yellow lure bees, which encourage pollination. You’ll be assured of good crops in your harvest of tomatoes, eggplant and peppers. Herbs such as dill, fennel and parsley entice beneficial insects like ladybird beetles. These feed on the pollen and nectar of flowers and lay their eggs on the crops. The larvae will gorge on pests that threaten your vegetables.

3.    Mulch Your Garden

You can prevent weeds from insidiously destroying your vegetables, and retain ground moisture, by mulching. Additionally, mulching permits you to moderate the temperature of the soil. It’s best to resort to material that decomposes, thereby adding organic matter to the soil. Your mulch material can range from shredded leaves to newspaper and cardboard:

• Shredded leaves. This nutrient-rich mulch is ideal for vegetables, flowerbeds and fruits.  Shred the leaves with a lawn mower before covering the ground.

• Newspapers and cardboard. Smother the weeds around the pathways and plants with several layers of newsprint and cardboard. Blanket the material with shredded leaves or bark in a thick covering. Replace the paper as your garden grows.

• Tree bark. The most common form of mulching, you can obtain them by the bag from gardening stores. Take care that you purchase real bark. Then spread the pieces over the soil in your garden.

Adopt these recommendations for better homesteading and gardening, and observe your crops burgeon.  Live happily off your land!

Thanks to when our dog, Chewbacka [nicknamed 'Chewy'], was a puppy, a chewed up hose has been coiled in our shed for months, almost 2 years. I wouldn’t throw it away because I just knew there was something I could do with it, eventually.

Low and behold, the other day, while going to dig up some purple potatoes, I found that someone had left our pitch fork (of 15 years) out under some bushes last fall and to say it’s weathered now is an understatement:

But it’s still quite sturdy and, frankly we don’t want to buy something if we can already use what we have , so my wheels in the wheels in my head started turning and I grabbed the exacto-knife, scissors and some electrical tape:

With the scissors, I cut four equal pices of hose, then with the exacto-knife, I split them in the center: Look at that guilty culprit in the background….

I wrapped them around the weathered, rough handle of the pitch-fork by opening them up at the split:

Then wrapped it with electrical tape:

The gripes are cushioned and smooth. No splinters and less blisters now – time to get to work!

Now my husband jokes with me that there’s no room for being lazy and just working for 3 hours in the garden, with this ‘cush-handle’ I should be able to dig and pitch all day long! Oh my! What have I done??

Seriously though, reusing things that may have thought of as trash or something not worth the time to keep is one of the top tips to developing a good homestead. Of course it’s a money saver too!