Gustave Flaubert

"I believe that if one always looked at the skies, one would end up with wings." - Gustave Flaubert

Henry Ward Beecher

"The sun does not shine for a few trees and flowers, but for the wide world's joy." - Henry Ward Beecher

Gardening

There’s a lot of naturally growing edible plants around us, the best of which are blackberries, grapes, mulberries, and walnuts, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t want to grow a whole bunch more.

In fact, one of the first things we did after settling in was make a garden.

This endeavor began with putting up a seven foot tall perimeter fence, electrified on the top and bottom (a lot more critters here to protect from). We then marked out rows on contour. Each row is 30” wide, raised above the 18” wide, sunken pathways. There are about 25 rows in total, each averaging 45 feet long. The whole enclosure is about 5000 square feet.

This may sound like a lot of work, but it’s actually been very easy. We are used to clay soil with lots of rocks. We had to work hard to improve the organic content of the clay, so that it would become crumbly enough for productive gardening. This place has sandy loam. It is so easy to dig, and driving in posts and such is almost laughably effortless. We still have to add organic material and mulch, but that’s just good gardening sense!

So far we only have six of these rows made and planted. They are currently producing (or about to produce) radish, carrots, spinach, turnips, peas, beets, onions, and broccoli. The rest of the space is planted with a cover crop that we feed to the rabbits. We also have a few trees, shrubs, and all kinds of herbs planted around the inside of the perimeter fence. In all, not a bad little garden patch!

The post Gardening appeared first on VelaCreations.

Gardening

Junkhounds

There were so many things we loved about living in Mexico, but one thing that sucked was the lack of junk. There, things very rarely go to waste and the trash is always filled with, you know, trash. Not so here!

When we arrived, the house was bare except for a fridge, stove, washing machine, dryer, and... wait for it... dishwasher!

We brought no furniture with us, so our first main job was to buy beds, sofas, tables, etc. This was accomplished on two fronts: craigslist and dumpsters. The former provided both free and very cheap items, but it was the latter that stole the show.

We live within reach of a big city with a large university. So, when it was time for student leases to lapse, we decided to go prowl the dumpsters in the student areas. It was unbelievable. There were literally hundreds of beds, sofas, tables, desks, shelves, trash cans, etc. sticking out of or beside overflowing dumpsters. We tried our hardest to do our part to limit this waste, taking as much as we could, in several trips, but we didn’t even make a dent. Along with most of our furniture, we even got our first ever TV (which we use to watch things via internet).

The things we found aren’t new and don’t necessarily match, but they’re all in good shape and suit us perfectly. So now we have a fully furnished, comfortable home, and all for less than $300.

We plan to visit the dumpsters again next year, to furnish the cabin. But then what do we do? We can't just let all that good stuff go to waste, but eventually we're going to run out of space to put the stuff we collect. I guess when that happens, we'll just have to build the kids a house, and then maybe we could furnish a storm shelter, and then... well, we'll figure it out.

The post Junkhounds appeared first on VelaCreations.

Junkhounds

William Hazlitt

"We do not see nature with our eyes, but with our understandings and our hearts." - William Hazlitt

Daniel Boone

"Nature was here a series of wonders, and a fund of delight." - Daniel Boone

New House

 

For the first time in our life together, we are not living in a home that we built ourselves, which is a little sad. The huge benefit to this is that I’m not sure we would have had the energy to start from scratch again! The downside is that it’s taken a while to get to know the ins and outs of the new place.

Both of our previous two homesteads were built with nature very much in mind, using the sun and the land around us to do most of our heating and cooling. We were also off-grid, so no bills besides internet and phone. This place is not nearly so efficient, and it is one of our goals to get everything to a much higher level of self-sufficiency than it is.

That said, the house is beautiful. It’s nestled into the woods of East Texas and is very private and cozy. You can’t actually see the place from anywhere until you’re right up on it, which suits us just fine.

It’s a two bedroom building, built in 1941, with a large living space that’s divided by a central fireplace. There are two bathrooms and a pantry area. In short, just what we need, at least for the time being.

Off to the side is a small, unfinished cabin. We’re about to start working on this, converting it into a two room, one bathroom guesthouse.

There is also an absolutely huge and amazing workshop, which has two rooms and three bays. This was kind of a mess when we first got here, but we’ve been gradually cleaning it out and tidying it up. It is so far beyond the shop we built on our previous place and we love it.

We have plans galore for this new stage of our lives, and we are looking forward to everything we might be able to achieve.

The post New House appeared first on VelaCreations.

New House

Socrates

"He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature." - Socrates

James M. Barrie

"God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December." - James M. Barrie

William Blake

"In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy." - William Blake

Merry Christmas 2017

I know people are kind of used to my erratic blogging technique - steady posts for a while followed by long, long absences - but this time around, it’s been a little worse than usual, with my last entry in April!

The long and short of it is that we moved, not just house, but country! Anyone that has made such a move will I’m sure sympathize. It’s a big deal, and oh so overwhelming.

Firstly, it took us a long time to come to the decision, which was based mainly on the desire to be closer to family. Next, we had to pack up and sell everything, move the “keepers” over the border, and then unpack and buy everything back! And lastly, there has been a long adjustment period, getting things done at the new place, and generally settling in.

We are now pretty much set up. We have a long list of things to do, of course, but we feel like we’re making daily progress. Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll try and get back into regular posts to catch you up to speed, but in the meantime I wanted to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a wonderful 2018.

We’re having Christmas with Abe’s mom, who now only lives 20 minutes away!

The post Merry Christmas 2017 appeared first on VelaCreations.

Merry Christmas 2017

Dennis Franz

"Coming from Chicago, I like a white Christmas." - Dennis Franz

John Burroughs

"How beautiful the leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days." - John Burroughs

Roy Bean

"And finally Winter, with its bitin', whinin' wind, and all the land will be mantled with snow." - Roy Bean

Hal Borland

"Knowing trees, I understand the meaning of patience. Knowing grass, I can appreciate persistence." - Hal Borland

Joseph Joubert

"When you go in search of honey you must expect to be stung by bees." - Joseph Joubert

Ralph Waldo Emerson

"When nature has work to be done, she creates a genius to do it." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

E. F. Schumacher

"Eagles come in all shapes and sizes, but you will recognize them chiefly by their attitudes." - E. F. Schumacher

Antoine Lavoisier

"Vegetation is the basic instrument the creator uses to set all of nature in motion." - Antoine Lavoisier

Nathaniel Hawthorne

"Mountains are earth's undecaying monuments." - Nathaniel Hawthorne

Freya Stark

"Curiosity is the one thing invincible in Nature." - Freya Stark

Voltaire

"The progress of rivers to the ocean is not so rapid as that of man to error." - Voltaire

William Wordsworth

"Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher." - William Wordsworth

Aesop

"It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds." - Aesop

Norman Douglas

"The pine stays green in winter... wisdom in hardship." - Norman Douglas

Elizabeth Bowen

"Autumn arrives in early morning, but spring at the close of a winter day." - Elizabeth Bowen

Richard Jefferies

"This sunlight linked me through the ages to that past consciousness." - Richard Jefferies

Kin Hubbard

"A bee is never as busy as it seems; it's just that it can't buzz any slower." - Kin Hubbard

Thomas Bailey Aldrich

"The ocean moans over dead men's bones." - Thomas Bailey Aldrich

B. C. Forbes

"It is only the farmer who faithfully plants seeds in the Spring, who reaps a harvest in the Autumn." - B. C. Forbes

Alexander Pope

"All nature is but art unknown to thee." - Alexander Pope

Anne Bronte

"A light wind swept over the corn, and all nature laughed in the sunshine." - Anne Bronte

Lord Byron

"Ye stars! which are the poetry of heaven!" - Lord Byron

Judy Garland

"Behind every cloud is another cloud." - Judy Garland

Thomas Hood

"I saw old Autumn in the misty morn stand shadowless like silence, listening to silence." - Thomas Hood

Marcus Tullius Cicero

"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need." - Marcus Tullius Cicero

Hippocrates

"Everything in excess is opposed to nature." - Hippocrates

Sally Ride

"The view of Earth is spectacular." - Sally Ride

Robert Smithson

"Nature is never finished." - Robert Smithson

David Icke

"Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut, that held its ground." - David Icke

Ellsworth Huntington

"America forms the longest and straightest bone in the earth's skeleton." - Ellsworth Huntington

Henry Fielding

"All nature wears one universal grin." - Henry Fielding

Edward Young

"Read nature; nature is a friend to truth." - Edward Young

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

"The Earth is the cradle of humanity, but mankind cannot stay in the cradle forever." - Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

Bette Davis

"Oh, don't let's ask for the moon. We've already got the stars." - Bette Davis

Vladimir Nabokov

"The breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea." - Vladimir Nabokov

Aristotle

"Nature does nothing in vain." - Aristotle

Saint Teresa of Avila

"The tree that is beside the running water is fresher and gives more fruit." - Saint Teresa of Avila

Zora Neale Hurston

"The man who interprets Nature is always held in great honor." - Zora Neale Hurston

H. P. Lovecraft

"But more wonderful than the lore of old men and the lore of books is the secret lore of ocean." - H. P. Lovecraft

Peter Benchley

"Without the oceans there would be no life on Earth." - Peter Benchley

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

"You forget that the fruits belong to all and that the land belongs to no one." - Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Hosea Ballou

"Energy, like the biblical grain of the mustard-seed, will remove mountains." - Hosea Ballou

Samuel Butler

"Human life is as evanescent as the morning dew or a flash of lightning." - Samuel Butler

John Donne

"No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace as I have seen in one autumnal face." - John Donne

John Burnside

"If nature offers no home, then we must make a home one way or another. The only question is how." - John Burnside

Arthur C. Clarke

"How inappropriate to call this planet Earth when it is quite clearly Ocean." - Arthur C. Clarke

Ruth St. Denis

"We have the capacity to receive messages from the stars and the songs of the night winds." - Ruth St. Denis

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"Nature knows no pause in progress and development, and attaches her curse on all inaction." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johnny Kelly

"Autumn is my favorite season." - Johnny Kelly

Thomas Jefferson

"There is not a sprig of grass that shoots uninteresting to me." - Thomas Jefferson

Alphonse Karr

"Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses." - Alphonse Karr

Jean Ingelow

"The moon looks upon many night flowers; the night flowers see but one moon." - Jean Ingelow

Walter Scott

"Unless a tree has borne blossoms in spring, you will vainly look for fruit on it in autumn." - Walter Scott

Francis Bacon

"The subtlety of nature is greater many times over than the subtlety of the senses and understanding." - Francis Bacon

Walter Scott

"Unless a tree has borne blossoms in spring, you will vainly look for fruit on it in autumn." - Walter Scott

Francis Bacon

"The subtlety of nature is greater many times over than the subtlety of the senses and understanding." - Francis Bacon

e. e. cummings

"The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful." - e. e. cummings

H. G. Wells

"Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature's inexorable imperative." - H. G. Wells

Nathaniel Hawthorne

"Moonlight is sculpture." - Nathaniel Hawthorne

Walter Gilbert

"We are embedded in a biological world and related to the organisms around us." - Walter Gilbert

Edward Young

"Too low they build, who build beneath the stars." - Edward Young

Rabindranath Tagore

"Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky." - Rabindranath Tagore

William Wordsworth

"Nature never did betray the heart that loved her." - William Wordsworth

Walter Hagen

"You're only here for a short visit. Don't hurry, don't worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way." - Walter Hagen

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

"The Amen of nature is always a flower." - Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Wallace Stevens

"Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around the lake." - Wallace Stevens

Henry David Thoreau

"I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion." - Henry David Thoreau

Jane Austen

"To sit in the shade on a fine day and look upon verdure is the most perfect refreshment." - Jane Austen

Adlai E. Stevenson

"Nature is indifferent to the survival of the human species, including Americans." - Adlai E. Stevenson

H. P. Lovecraft

"Blue, green, grey, white, or black; smooth, ruffled, or mountainous; that ocean is not silent." - H. P. Lovecraft

Michael Pollan

"A lawn is nature under totalitarian rule." - Michael Pollan

Emily Carr

"Trees love to toss and sway; they make such happy noises." - Emily Carr

Chen Shui-bian

"Even if one tree falls down it wouldn't affect the entire forest." - Chen Shui-bian

Luigi Pirandello

"Nature uses human imagination to lift her work of creation to even higher levels." - Luigi Pirandello

Josiah Gilbert Holland

"Nature is the master of talents; genius is the master of nature." - Josiah Gilbert Holland

Henry David Thoreau

"There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root." - Henry David Thoreau

Francis Bacon

"We cannot command Nature except by obeying her." - Francis Bacon

Hosea Ballou

"Disease is the retribution of outraged Nature." - Hosea Ballou

Thomas Carlyle

"The old cathedrals are good, but the great blue dome that hangs over everything is better." - Thomas Carlyle

Lord Byron

"I love not man the less, but Nature more." - Lord Byron

James Lovelock

"Sadly, it's much easier to create a desert than a forest." - James Lovelock

Francois Rabelais

"If the skies fall, one may hope to catch larks." - Francois Rabelais

William Wordsworth

"The flower that smells the sweetest is shy and lowly." - William Wordsworth

Emile M. Cioran

"What would be left of our tragedies if an insect were to present us his?" - Emile M. Cioran

Rabindranath Tagore

"Trees are the earth's endless effort to speak to the listening heaven." - Rabindranath Tagore

Ugo Betti

"There is no forgiveness in nature." - Ugo Betti

Letitia Elizabeth Landon

"A brier rose whose buds yield fragrant harvest for the honey bee." - Letitia Elizabeth Landon

Guillaume Apollinaire

"Without poets, without artists, men would soon weary of nature's monotony." - Guillaume Apollinaire

Margaret Fuller

"Nature provides exceptions to every rule." - Margaret Fuller

William Christopher Handy

"Nature was my kindergarten." - William Christopher Handy

Alexander Smith

"Death is the ugly fact which Nature has to hide, and she hides it well." - Alexander Smith

A. A. Milne

"Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them." - A. A. Milne

Bryan Procter

"Oh, the summer night, Has a smile of light, And she sits on a sapphire throne." - Bryan Procter

Bhumibol Adulyadej

"Nature is something outside our body, but the mind is within us." - Bhumibol Adulyadej

Roy Bean

"Time will pass and seasons will come and go." - Roy Bean

Russell Baker

"Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it." - Russell Baker

Paul Muni

"Nature's far too subtle to repeat herself." - Paul Muni

Blaise Pascal

"Nature is an infinite sphere of which the center is everywhere and the circumference nowhere." - Blaise Pascal

Alfred Austin

"Show me your garden and I shall tell you what you are." - Alfred Austin

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"All theory, dear friend, is gray, but the golden tree of life springs ever green." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Honore de Balzac

"Clouds symbolize the veils that shroud God." - Honore de Balzac

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

"All the universe is full of the lives of perfect creatures." - Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

Grossing $350,000 on 1.5 Acres of High Intensity, No-Till Vegetable Production - Neversink Farm

Grossing $350,000 on 1.5 Acres of High Intensity, No-Till Vegetable Production - Neversink Farm

Setting up Solar Panels on Boat, RV, or Off-the-grid Living

Setting up Solar Panels on Boat, RV, or Off-the-grid Living

A. R. Ammons

"In nature there are few sharp lines." - A. R. Ammons

Valentina Tereshkova

"Hey sky, take off your hat, I'm on my way!" - Valentina Tereshkova

Werner Heisenberg

"What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning." - Werner Heisenberg

Jean Ingelow

"Against her ankles as she trod The lucky buttercups did nod." - Jean Ingelow

Corita Kent

"Flowers grow out of dark moments." - Corita Kent

Edmund Burke

"To make us love our country, our country ought to be lovely." - Edmund Burke

Ivan Turgenev

"We sit in the mud... and reach for the stars." - Ivan Turgenev

Benjamin Disraeli

"Nature, like man, sometimes weeps from gladness." - Benjamin Disraeli

Anton Chekhov

"Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass." - Anton Chekhov

William Blake

"Great things are done when men and mountains meet." - William Blake

Arnold Bennett

"It is easier to go down a hill than up, but the view is from the top." - Arnold Bennett

Matsuo Basho

"The temple bell stops but I still hear the sound coming out of the flowers." - Matsuo Basho

Khalil Gibran

"The eye of a human being is a microscope, which makes the world seem bigger than it really is." - Khalil Gibran

Napoleon Bonaparte

"If I had to choose a religion, the sun as the universal giver of life would be my god." - Napoleon Bonaparte

King Solomon

"All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full." - King Solomon

Ecosystem Based Adaptation, - by, John D. Liu, The Great Work Of Our Time

Ecosystem Based Adaptation, - by, John D. Liu, The Great Work Of Our Time

Another reason to loathe ticks

Another reason to loathe ticks

Anyone else overrun with lambsquarter (aka pigweed) this time of year? Here's how we dehydrate and use it!

Anyone else overrun with lambsquarter (aka pigweed) this time of year? Here's how we dehydrate and use it!

How to Make Pemmican At Home: A Survival Superfood That Can Last Anywhere From A Few Years (Decades) Up To A Lifetime

How to Make Pemmican At Home: A Survival Superfood That Can Last Anywhere From A Few Years (Decades) Up To A Lifetime

Permaculture Nursery Tour

Permaculture Nursery Tour

What if several of the world's biggest food crops failed at the same time?

What if several of the world's biggest food crops failed at the same time?

Jewels of the Forest Fungi Farm Tour Pt. 1 Setting up the Permaculture Farm!

Jewels of the Forest Fungi Farm Tour Pt. 1 Setting up the Permaculture Farm!

Raising a Year's Worth of Meat Chickens

Raising a Year's Worth of Meat Chickens

Starting Your First Bee Hive

Starting Your First Bee Hive

Interesting read Applying Holistic Management Principles to Build a Net-Zero Home

Interesting read Applying Holistic Management Principles to Build a Net-Zero Home

How to make homemade raisins in the oven

How to make homemade raisins in the oven

Chicken Plucking! It Made it so much more Enjoyable!

Chicken Plucking! It Made it so much more Enjoyable!

The Best Survival Tips You Can Learn From Street People

The Best Survival Tips You Can Learn From Street People

Juvenal

"Never does nature say one thing and wisdom another." - Juvenal

William Shakespeare

"Fishes live in the sea, as men do a-land; the great ones eat up the little ones." - William Shakespeare

Aldous Huxley

"My father considered a walk among the mountains as the equivalent of churchgoing." - Aldous Huxley

Winspear Rabbitry, grow out pens on grass

Winspear Rabbitry, grow out pens on grass

7 week old rabbits in pens on the grass

More: VelaCreations.com

Langston Hughes

"Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby." - Langston Hughes

Stewart Udall

"Plans to protect air and water, wilderness and wildlife are in fact plans to protect man." - Stewart Udall

Hal Borland

"If you would know strength and patience, welcome the company of trees." - Hal Borland

Robert Green Ingersoll

"In the presence of eternity, the mountains are as transient as the clouds." - Robert Green Ingersoll

Interesting idea on making $1000 a month from 15 chickens, it actually seems feasible. Anyone else doing this?

Interesting idea on making $1000 a month from 15 chickens, it actually seems feasible. Anyone else doing this?

Chicken Compost - Babies and More!

Chicken Compost - Babies and More!

Hiving Our First Package of Honey Bees

Hiving Our First Package of Honey Bees

Growing garlic from bulbils (A low cost way to build up your seed stock)

Growing garlic from bulbils (A low cost way to build up your seed stock)

A guide for those people wanting to homestead that helps you to make the decision for all the right reasons...

A guide for those people wanting to homestead that helps you to make the decision for all the right reasons...

Off-Grid Hydroponics Experiment - The Kratky Method & Floating Raft Hydroponics

Off-Grid Hydroponics Experiment - The Kratky Method & Floating Raft Hydroponics

5 Ways to Prepare Beds for Tree and Shrub Planting - Which One is Best?

5 Ways to Prepare Beds for Tree and Shrub Planting - Which One is Best?

Livestock Welfare and Performance in Silvopastures

Livestock Welfare and Performance in Silvopastures

Polycultures and Guilds 5 - Chestnut with Allies

Polycultures and Guilds 5 - Chestnut with Allies

Raising Rabbits To Make Profit, Very Easy To Do

Raising Rabbits To Make Profit, Very Easy To Do

Emily Dickinson

"How strange that nature does not knock, and yet does not intrude!" - Emily Dickinson

Marshall McLuhan

"There are no passengers on spaceship earth. We are all crew." - Marshall McLuhan

Raising pheasants on the homestead could be a reliable source of eggs and meat. Pretty Interesting.

Raising pheasants on the homestead could be a reliable source of eggs and meat. Pretty Interesting.

Martin Heidegger

"To dwell is to garden." - Martin Heidegger

Christian Nestell Bovee

"Heaven lent you a soul, Earth will lend a grave." - Christian Nestell Bovee

My chickens are in full laying-mode: what I do with all those extra eggs

My chickens are in full laying-mode: what I do with all those extra eggs

Self Watering Strawberry Pallet Planter

Self Watering Strawberry Pallet Planter

Cold climate gardening inspiration. Absolutely love their glass walled cold frame.

Cold climate gardening inspiration. Absolutely love their glass walled cold frame.

Google books delivers, with an old homesteading magazine. The Country Gentleman.

Google books delivers, with an old homesteading magazine. The Country Gentleman.

Jean Paul

"The miracle on earth are the laws of heaven." - Jean Paul

William Cowper

"Nature is a good name for an effect whose cause is God." - William Cowper

Satchel Paige

"Don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines." - Satchel Paige

Zhuangzi

"Life comes from the earth and life returns to the earth." - Zhuangzi

Buddha

"The foot feels the foot when it feels the ground." - Buddha

Alice Walker

"In search of my mother's garden, I found my own." - Alice Walker

Aristotle

"In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous." - Aristotle

Jacques Yves Cousteau

"The happiness of the bee and the dolphin is to exist. For man it is to know that and to wonder at it." - Jacques Yves Cousteau

Friedrich Schiller

"Nothing leads to good that is not natural." - Friedrich Schiller

Elbert Hubbard

"The supernatural is the natural not yet understood." - Elbert Hubbard

Tennessee Williams

"The violets in the mountains have broken the rocks." - Tennessee Williams

Voltaire

"Nature has always had more force than education." - Voltaire

William C. Bryant

"The groves were God's first temples." - William C. Bryant

Robert Fortune

"One marked feature of the people, both high and low, is a love for flowers." - Robert Fortune

Charles Eastman

"There were no temples or shrines among us save those of nature." - Charles Eastman

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

"All art is but imitation of nature." - Lucius Annaeus Seneca

P. G. Wodehouse

"Flowers are happy things." - P. G. Wodehouse

Thomas Fuller

"A good garden may have some weeds." - Thomas Fuller

Neil Young

"Earth is a flower and it's pollinating." - Neil Young

Thomas Tusser

"Sweet April showers do spring May flowers." - Thomas Tusser

Hannah Arendt

"The earth is the very quintessence of the human condition." - Hannah Arendt

The Amazon is not a Wilderness, it's an Advanced Permaculture Food Forest

The Amazon is not a Wilderness, it's an Advanced Permaculture Food Forest

Make A Chicken Wire Compost Brokestead The HomeStead Ep.2

Make A Chicken Wire Compost Brokestead The HomeStead Ep.2

My husband took over our garden and it's the best thing that ever happened to it.

My husband took over our garden and it's the best thing that ever happened to it.

Perennial Vegetables & Fruit: Plant a Perennial Food Garden

Perennial Vegetables & Fruit: Plant a Perennial Food Garden

Kales in swales | Pest Free Vegetables

Kales in swales | Pest Free Vegetables

Great video on how to build a pretty affordable and durable homestead green house. Seems expandable too.

Great video on how to build a pretty affordable and durable homestead green house. Seems expandable too.

FREE Pallets | Ideal for the walls of our next chicken shelter

FREE Pallets | Ideal for the walls of our next chicken shelter

Chicken Compost - Compost Ring Gardens and Amazing soil!

Chicken Compost - Compost Ring Gardens and Amazing soil!

Polycultures and Guilds - 3 - Succession design and dense food forest

Polycultures and Guilds - 3 - Succession design and dense food forest

Funny post about stopping rabbits from destroying young espalier apple trees

Funny post about stopping rabbits from destroying young espalier apple trees

National geographic short story on land restoration over 50 years from wasteland to ranch.

National geographic short story on land restoration over 50 years from wasteland to ranch.

Leggy Seedlings, Mini Greenhouses, and Raised Beds in Dry Climates!

Leggy Seedlings, Mini Greenhouses, and Raised Beds in Dry Climates!

Make A Chicken Wire Compost Brokestead The HomeStead Ep.2

Make A Chicken Wire Compost Brokestead The HomeStead Ep.2

Johannes Kepler

"Nature uses as little as possible of anything." - Johannes Kepler

Thomas Browne

"All things are artificial, for nature is the art of God." - Thomas Browne

Michelangelo

"My soul can find no staircase to Heaven unless it be through Earth's loveliness." - Michelangelo

Marilyn French

"Nature is inside art as its content, not outside as its model." - Marilyn French

John Gay

"Shadow owes its birth to light." - John Gay

Pablo Neruda

"You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep spring from coming." - Pablo Neruda

Gustav Mahler

"With the coming of spring, I am calm again." - Gustav Mahler

Polycultures and Guilds - 3 - Succession design and dense food forest

Polycultures and Guilds - 3 - Succession design and dense food forest

50 Years Ago, This Was a Wasteland. He Changed Everything | National Geographic [08:16]

50 Years Ago, This Was a Wasteland. He Changed Everything | National Geographic [08:16]

Feed and Weed - why are the chickens so HUNGRY?

Feed and Weed - why are the chickens so HUNGRY?

Van tour of some van lifers (Living simply on the road)

Van tour of some van lifers (Living simply on the road)

Pond well

In February, I did a blog about a solar pump we had bought for the pond.

In order to install the pump correctly, we had to empty the pond, which we have now done (and the orchard thanks us!). So, before going on vacation, Abe and a friend dug a hole to the side of the pond.

They put a 4" PVC pipe from inside the hole to up on top of the pond, near the solar panels. The end of this pipe is covered with feed sacks, to keep solid material away from the pump. The hole is then filled with rocks and gravel. Once the casing was all in place and secured in a couple of spots, they slid the pump into it.

We will now be able to pump water once the pond starts to fill up, and can pull the pump whenever we need to check on it.

For more photos, check out the flickr set.

The post Pond well appeared first on VelaCreations.

Pond well

John Keats

"Scenery is fine - but human nature is finer." - John Keats

Salsa

Abe first got Salsa at the end of 2001, when she was 6-8 months old. He found her in a pound in Austin when he was getting ready to move to Terlingua. At first, the pound hadn't wanted to release her to him, because he didn't have a house or fences on the property. He ended up showing them photos of the wild, empty land that had no traffic and no neighbors, and they finally agreed that she would probably be happy there.

She had a great life, both in Terlingua and the new place. She has always been fiercely loyal to our family, and was only ever torn over the issue of who to protect when Abe and the kids were play-fighting. She got to run all over the wilderness, and continued to hike with us up until last year. She has always been the alpha, even when she was completely deaf. She was a really good dog, and will be missed.

The post Salsa appeared first on VelaCreations.

Salsa

Vladimir Nabokov

"Life is a great sunrise. I do not see why death should not be an even greater one." - Vladimir Nabokov

Annie Dillard

"There is a muscular energy in sunlight corresponding to the spiritual energy of wind." - Annie Dillard

Easter 2017

Overall, we were gone for two weeks, but it feels like we've been away for a lot longer. I guess that's because we managed to pack so much in. We really had a wonderful time, and are already missing everyone.

Abe's side of the family

Part of the time was spent with Abe's mom in her new home near Austin, Texas. The drive took a day and a half, but it went through some beautiful landscapes - from our mountains, through the desert, into the hill country. There was lots of wildlife to see, including a ranch with exotic animals, which kept the hours interesting.

Vickie's place is gorgeous, with a lot of space to run around. The boys had a blast just exploring, swimming, playing basketball, and picking dewberries.

We got to see Abe's mom, brother, grandmother, aunt and uncle, cousin Ford, and cousin Charlie and his family. It was the first time that the boys and I got to meet the cousins, who also live in the Austin area. Charlie has two boys about the same age as ours, and they all got on really well, which was great to see. I can see all kinds of trouble that the four of them will get into over the years to come!

On Leo's birthday, we gave both boys their first ever brand new bikes (Nicky got his a little early so he could practice on it with Leo at Vickie's, which is flat and smooth, unlike our place!). We then went out to eat, before visiting a kickass fossil museum in Austin.

We had an early birthday party for Nicky before we left and that was fun too. We went to a place called Gattiland, which has a pizza buffet and a bunch of arcade style games. The boys had never done anything like this before and they loved it, especially the bumper cars.

 

Josie's side of the family

We flew to Florida for a few days to hook up with my mom, step-dad, dad, and my sister and her family. The visit was way too short, but fun nonetheless.

We all got together at Easter and had a huge meal. While we digested, the younger kids went on a treasure hunt with clues, as well as an Easter egg hunt.

We went swimming most days, and by the end of the holiday the boys had improved a bunch. At home, we generally only swim for a few months of the year, which means that Nicky loses his confidence and has to start over. Leo, however, is now to a point that he won't forget what he's learned.

One of the days was spent in Legoland. It was super fun, but very tiring. The boys were really into the rides. And, of course, they LOVED the trip to the shop that my dad treated them to.

For more photos, you can check out this flickr set.

The post Easter 2017 appeared first on VelaCreations.

Easter 2017

Easter 2017

Easter 2017 -

Intrinsic herding techniques.

Intrinsic herding techniques.

GRAFTING LESSON #1, The Possbilities, Grafting = Freedom! (and it's fun)

GRAFTING LESSON #1, The Possbilities, Grafting = Freedom! (and it's fun)

Homestead and Farm Resiliency: Adaptive Land and Infrastructure Systems for a Changing World

Homestead and Farm Resiliency: Adaptive Land and Infrastructure Systems for a Changing World

11 Years Living Off-Grid in an Earthship Style House

11 Years Living Off-Grid in an Earthship Style House

Old Trailer Renovated to New Off Grid Home

Old Trailer Renovated to New Off Grid Home

Homestead Tour inside the Cabin — Off Grid Sweden

Homestead Tour inside the Cabin — Off Grid Sweden

Gathering wild (invasive!) oysters with a bucket

Gathering wild (invasive!) oysters with a bucket

Permaculture Plant Potting

Permaculture Plant Potting

How to Start a Mushroom Farm

How to Start a Mushroom Farm

Preparing vegetable beds and HUGE plants

Preparing vegetable beds and HUGE plants

Grafting, A Skill Every Homesteader Should Have! Series in Progress.

Grafting, A Skill Every Homesteader Should Have! Series in Progress.

Making a Bottle opener + Screwdriver 😀😀

Making a Bottle opener + Screwdriver 😀😀

O. Henry

"We may achieve climate, but weather is thrust upon us." - O. Henry

Malcolm de Chazal

"The flower in the vase smiles, but no longer laughs." - Malcolm de Chazal

Don Marquis

"Pity the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." - Don Marquis

Rupert Brooke

"Breathless, we flung us on a windy hill, Laughed in the sun, and kissed the lovely grass." - Rupert Brooke

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

"Fresh air is good if you do not take too much of it; most of the achievements and pleasures of life are in bad air." - Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Edouard Manet

"There are no lines in nature, only areas of colour, one against another." - Edouard Manet

Robert Delaunay

"Nature engenders the science of painting." - Robert Delaunay

Elias Hicks

"The fulness of the godhead dwelt in every blade of grass." - Elias Hicks

Martin Luther

"God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars." - Martin Luther

Douglas Wilson

"Use plants to bring life." - Douglas Wilson

Alan Hovhaness

"I've always regarded nature as the clothing of God." - Alan Hovhaness

Roy Rogers

"What's a butterfly garden without butterflies?" - Roy Rogers

Ray Bradbury

"We are an impossibility in an impossible universe." - Ray Bradbury

Bill Watterson

"If people sat outside and looked at the stars each night, I'll bet they'd live a lot differently." - Bill Watterson

Max Beerbohm

"To destroy is still the strongest instinct in nature." - Max Beerbohm

Clarence Day

"Ants are good citizens, they place group interests first." - Clarence Day

We built a polytunnel from scratch.

We built a polytunnel from scratch.

Perma Perspectives: Why Growing Food IS Political a.k.a. 'Responding to Negative Internet Comments'

Perma Perspectives: Why Growing Food IS Political a.k.a. 'Responding to Negative Internet Comments'

21 Photogenic Trees Gallery

21 Photogenic Trees Gallery

Three Seeds to Sow in April | Pumpkins, Spanish Flag and Kale

Three Seeds to Sow in April | Pumpkins, Spanish Flag and Kale

Finishing the HUGE bed

Finishing the HUGE bed

Morel Mushrooms!: Took the Family On Mushroom Hunting on the Homestead

Morel Mushrooms!: Took the Family On Mushroom Hunting on the Homestead

Mapping a Site

Mapping a Site

Chicken Compost - Spring 2017 Update - Compost Rings and Worms Galore

Chicken Compost - Spring 2017 Update - Compost Rings and Worms Galore

Be Great at Anything By Being Great at Simplifying

Be Great at Anything By Being Great at Simplifying

The Pleasure Ceiling--a practical explanation for why it's better to go with the 'simpler' version of things.

The Pleasure Ceiling--a practical explanation for why it's better to go with the 'simpler' version of things.

Propagation - Easy Stool Layering Technique

Propagation - Easy Stool Layering Technique

Chicken Compost - Spring 2017 Update - Compost Rings and Worms Galore

Chicken Compost - Spring 2017 Update - Compost Rings and Worms Galore

Roasted mealworms with chili and garlic with lots of salt & pepper

Roasted mealworms with chili and garlic with lots of salt & pepper

Super simple and easy Chicken Auto-Feeder holds TWO 50 pound bags of grain!

Super simple and easy Chicken Auto-Feeder holds TWO 50 pound bags of grain!

John Ruskin

"It is written on the arched sky; it looks out from every star. It is the poetry of Nature; it is that which uplifts the spirit within us." - John Ruskin

Samuel Daniel

"The stars that have most glory have no rest." - Samuel Daniel

Joseph Conrad

"The sea has never been friendly to man. At most it has been the accomplice of human restlessness." - Joseph Conrad

Mark Twain

"In the Spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours." - Mark Twain

Ambrose Bierce

"Ocean: A body of water occupying about two-thirds of a world made for man - who has no gills." - Ambrose Bierce

Hardwood Propagation (with bottom heat) - Update 1

Hardwood Propagation (with bottom heat) - Update 1

Wine Cap - Inoculating Burlap Sacks - Part I

Wine Cap - Inoculating Burlap Sacks - Part I

Observing a beehive using a thermal camera - Really interesting!

Observing a beehive using a thermal camera - Really interesting!

Check out how this guy builds his chicken tractors

Check out how this guy builds his chicken tractors

Victor Hugo

"What would be ugly in a garden constitutes beauty in a mountain." - Victor Hugo

Painting roof

When we first made our concrete roof, we covered it with a fabric mesh and waterproofing paint that is supposed to protect the concrete for 5 years. That was 8 years ago. So, we figured it was high time we put another couple of coats on the roof, and that's what I've been doing while Abe was digging hundreds of holes for trees.

Instead of using the mesh again, we used a waterproofing paint with added fiber, applied with a big broom-like brush. I did two coats, each painted on in a different direction from the other (the first coat had brushstrokes going up and down, the second with the brushstrokes at a 45 degree angle from the first). The trick (aside from being on a bright, white roof in the blazing sun!) was in the shingling. You start each coat at the bottom of the roof and work your way up to the top. That means that the top part is painted on top of the layer below, just like shingles. Now, this wouldn't be a problem with a normal roof, but ours is a little complex. There are several levels of roof that all flow down to the same gutter downspouts. It meant I had to position strategic ladders before starting to be able to get down from places other than the main access point.

The post Painting roof appeared first on VelaCreations.

Painting roof

Under cover potatoes

Under cover potatoes

Turning your extra raw milk into cheese in 10 minutes!

Turning your extra raw milk into cheese in 10 minutes!

Quick Run Down of my Friends Off-Grid Solar Rig.

Quick Run Down of my Friends Off-Grid Solar Rig.

Getting started with hatching & selling chicks for extra homestead income

Getting started with hatching & selling chicks for extra homestead income

Oregon State University is offering a free online course "Intro to Permaculture" starting May 1st

Oregon State University is offering a free online course "Intro to Permaculture" starting May 1st

Another example of a Water Retention Landscape after lots of rain handling the water very well in Tamera, Portugal

Another example of a Water Retention Landscape after lots of rain handling the water very well in Tamera, Portugal

Pierre Schaeffer

"Sound is the vocabulary of nature." - Pierre Schaeffer

Planting out

I love this time of year. As it warms up, everything has started to bloom and leaf out (we already have tons of tiny fruit growing on various types of plants!). The only downside with the season is that it means a LOT of work! There's planting, transplanting, watering, mulching, etc. And it's all made a million times worse by the fact that Abe has been seed crazy ever since the cows got into the property last year. He has literally planted more than a thousand seeds this past year, and they all have to be tended.

So, this week, he decided to get a friend to help him. Between the two of them, they transplanted hundreds of trees and shrubs, repotted a few hundred little saplings, and planted several hundred more seeds in cone-tainers. The work was made a little harder due to the fact that it is starting to get hot, and we're not quite used to it yet. Still, the reward is apparent every time you walk through the orchard, circle drive and animal pens. This place will be truly amazing once all this stuff gets big!

The post Planting out appeared first on VelaCreations.

Planting out

James Agee

"This continent, an open palm spread frank before the sky." - James Agee

Saint Augustine

"Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature." - Saint Augustine

Spring party

On the 21st, there was a party at school. Moms brought different food and drinks, and the kids dressed up in costumes.Nicky wanted to be a bear, and Leo went as grapes. The latter regretted his choice, as it was a lot harder to play when covered in 40 balloons, something that had sounded so much fun to him in theory. Still, we took it apart after a little while and he handed out the balloons to everyone.

 

 

One of the most surprising events of the party came from Nicky. Our local kindergarten has now reopened (there wasn't a teacher for the first few months due to an accident), and the kids came to the party. Nicky played mostly with them, and he had a blast. He later declared that he wanted to return to kindergarten. I was a little hesitant at first, because there aren't any other kids his age (they are now going to school in the nearby town), and because he is easily keeping up with first grade work and so might be bored. However, as the days passed, he didn't change his mind. He said, "I've never been the big kid before", and that actually makes a lot of sense. He's the youngest brother and is by far the littlest/youngest in school (being only 5), so I can see it might be enjoyable for him to be the big kid.

I talked to the kindergarten teacher and to his current one, and we're going to try it out for a couple of weeks. If he likes it, fine, if not he can always go back to Leo's school.

Sucks for me - I was enjoying having them both attend the same school, as it meant only one set of meetings/fundraisers/cleaning, etc. Oh well.

The post Spring party appeared first on VelaCreations.

Spring party

Wildlife

We have been here for almost 10 years, and during that time, the land and soil have improved significantly. We still have a lot more to do to get the place to where we would like it, but at least we know we're on the right track, judging by the significant increase in local wildlife. We now have whole flocks of birds (including several cubbies of quail) that live on our place that weren't here before, there are lots of deer tracks throughout the lower half of the property, and the increase in horny toads is astounding. We're on our way to creating an oasis.

The post Wildlife appeared first on VelaCreations.

Wildlife