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, Grain Mills, Bread Machines,Grain buckets, Bosch Mixers, the NutriMill, instructional tutorials, recipes and more.

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A Basic Herb Wheel

With warmer weather it’s time to get those herbs that have been basket-bound all winter out into the fresh air!

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So how long before a child starts taking his/her first steps (at about 10 months to a year old) before you expect them to be in the Boston Marathon? Tomorrow?

If you think about it, that’s what we do to ourselves. We take huge leaps past some vital steps that are needed in homesteading. We think we need all the equipment, land, livestock and THEN we’re homesteading.

This is not the case. If we are taking ‘baby steps’ we’re still walking.  If we are doing a little of ‘this and that’ we are still homsteadING. Notice the ‘ing’ – it is a process.

Only if we give up on the process do we cease stepping in the homesteading direction.

Keep walking, taking baby steps and keep working out that dream of homesteading. Don’t be so hard on your self if you’re at least taking steps.

EnJOY the journey!

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. Living with a Homesteading Mindset in the country, the city and suburbs has been an adventure! The Millers own and operate Millers Grain House  which offers Organic and Chemical-free Whole Grains, Bosch Mixers, the NutriMill, instructional tutorials, recipes and more. Listen to her Radio Show – Live or Archived at: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/millersgrainhouse

Technorati Tags: baby steps, equipment, homesteading, land, livestock, tips

It won’t be long until many of us who live on homesteads will be facing the winter in full force. Over the next few posts, we would like to give some ‘tips’ to help you winterize in the areas of your home/house, your garden and your animals (pets & stock).

If you’ve not started, or you are new to an area that has harsher winters, or new to homesteading, these will be some ‘bite-sized’ tips to get the ball rolling. There’s no time to waste, though, because ole man winter is soon to come a-knockin’.

First tips:

In your Home:
Check the Exterior, Door and Windows
•Inspect exterior for crevice cracks and exposed entry points around pipes; seal them.
•Use weather stripping around doors to prevent cold air from entering the home, heat escaping and caulk windows.
•Replace cracked glass in windows. If you end up replacing the entire window, prime and paint exposed wood well before the wet freezing weather arrives.
•If your home has a basement, consider protecting its window wells by covering them with plastic shields to keep weighty snow from crashing in.
•Switch out summer screens with plexi-glass replacements from storage. If you have storm windows, install them now.

In your Garden & Lawn Equipment:
Now is the time to look a head and plant spring-blooming bulbs such as tulips and daffodils. Plant them any time from September in colder regions through December in warmer climates – as long as the ground can be easily worked.

A thorough cleaning of equipment to remove dirt, grass clippings, etc. will prevent rust and corrosion and will reveal any damaged or worn parts that may need replacing.

For your Animals:
Make sure the pen is located in an area where the animals will be protected from harsh winds and, preferably, exposed to the early morning sun. You may want to consider building a special winter pen for your animals in a better location if necessary. South- or south-east facing shelters are ideal in the winter.

Until next tip –
Best Blessings!
The Millers

Technorati Tags: animal, cold, equipment, garden, harsh, home, lawn, tips, winter, winterize

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!

By sharing these tips, I hope it inspires you to look outside the ordinary and challenge yourself to make the most of what you already have!

Best Blessings and Happy Homesteading!

Donna

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 Organic and Chemical-free Whole Grains, Bosch Mixers, the NutriMill, instructional tutorials, recipes and more.

Technorati Tags: homestead, homesteading, recycle, reuse, save money, tips, trash

If you’ve not had the chance to see this video, I’d suggest you do so. Such a convenience food that we are consuming mass quantities of and it is so very simple to make it yourself:

Technorati Tags: home made, homesteading, simple, tips, video

What exactly does it mean to ‘go with your gut’?

Well, it’s like this, the almanac has said we should have our peas in the ground weeks ago. I’ve been anguished over this date on the calendar for quite some time. My ‘gut’ says: DON’T PLANT YET!  While trying to shake the  feeling of being a lazy-good-for-nothin’, I’ve just sprouted some for transplanting soon. When is soon? I hope by the posting of this entry – it already happened but I am going with my gut.

You see there is a time to rely on what you feel and a time to push through (that’s another Tuesday’s Tip, pushing through) what you feel.

Does the land feel ready for planting? Did you have a snow/freeze in April last year? These things play into your gut reaction to what to do around the homestead. The list of what should be done when may not always be accurate. It may often be timely but sometimes, you just *know* what needs doing even if it’s out of order, or not doing, because you just know the time isn’t right yet.

Don’t be afraid to ‘go with your gut’ on some things. What’s the worst that could happen? You’d learn something? Or you’d learn that in THAT situation – go ahead and push through (see the next week’s tip!)

Best Blessings and enJOY the journey!

Donna Miller

Donna Miller is a work-from-home wife and mother. She delighted to share her trials and triumphs of learning to homestead anywhere. The Millers own and operate Millers Grain House which offers Organic and Chemical-free Whole Grains, Bosch Mixers, the NutriMill, instructional tutorials, recipes and more.

Technorati Tags: homestead, planting, rain, tips, weather