Hi Everyone, I had to post about this, I just found out that I won the give away that Kendra had going on @ http://newlifeonahomestead.com/ She has giveaways often. Anyone wanting to learn about homesteading should check out her site. She always has good stories and has some good recipes, her blog is full of useful tips and info. She writes about what she is learning & going through on their homestead.

Christmas Giveaway From Franklin Springs ($124+ value!)

>23 December 2010 429 views

*Giveaway now closed. Congratulations to Tony!!

For those of you who are still hanging with me through the holiday rush, I’ve got another awesome giveaway from Franklin Springs just for you.

If you are looking to gain insights into starting your own business, or if you are interested in refreshing your sales and marketing strategies; If you have recently lost work and want to step up your game in a highly competitive job market, this series is for you.

The Venture Academy Complete Lecture Series is an intellectually motivating set of instructional DVDs inspiring those who watch them to be the best Christian entrepreneurs, business owners, employees and students that they can strive to be.

Topics include:

• Operations- Four lectures explaining the critical processes and principles of operating a company.

• Sales and Marketing- Three lectures covering how to sell and market goods and services.

• An Entrepreneurial Vision- Four lectures that lay a Biblical foundation for living an entrepreneurial life that is pleasing to God.

• Finance and Accounting- Three lectures explaining how to financially manage and measure a company.

• Administration- Three lectures covering company administration; everything from human resources to legal matters.

My wonderful friends at Franklin Springs are so generously offering this entire 12 hour, five DVD series (a $124.75 value) to one of my lucky readers! And with so many people out of town, I expect entries to be low, meaning your chances of winning just got better!

To top it off, I’m offering not one but FIVE chances to win this set.

Here’s how to enter. (You must leave a separate comment for each entry to have each one count.) Good luck!

1.) Simply leave a comment telling me why you think you could use this lecture series.

2.) Add my Button to your sidebar, then leave a comment here letting me know you did, with a link to your blog. If you already have my button, let me know!

3.) Post something about this giveaway on your blog. Then come back here and leave a separate comment telling me you blogged about it, with a link to your post.

4.) Subscribe to my blog.

Enter your email address: Delivered by FeedBurner

Subscribe in a reader Then leave a separate comment letting me know you subscribed. As always, if you already subscribe that counts too! Just leave me a comment telling me you’re already faithful!

5.) Become a fan on Facebook, and post something on your wall about the giveaway. If you’re already a fan, then tell your FB friends about the giveaway!

Open to US and Canada.

Christmas 2010

We have had a great Christmas (My Mother is still with us, Last year they gave her 3 months to live) Mother has always wanted it to snow on Christmas & today it has been snowing here. I hope everyone has had a Merry CHRISTmas. Happy birthday JESUS.

Christmas Giveaway From Franklin Springs ($124+ value!)

>23 December 2010 38 views

For those of you who are still hanging with me through the holiday rush, I’ve got another awesome giveaway from Franklin Springs just for you.

If you are looking to gain insights into starting your own business, or if you are interested in refreshing your sales and marketing strategies; If you have recently lost work and want to step up your game in a highly competitive job market, this series is for you.

The Venture Academy Complete Lecture Series is an intellectually motivating set of instructional DVDs inspiring those who watch them to be the best Christian entrepreneurs, business owners, employees and students that they can strive to be.

Topics include:

• Operations- Four lectures explaining the critical processes and principles of operating a company.

• Sales and Marketing- Three lectures covering how to sell and market goods and services.

• An Entrepreneurial Vision- Four lectures that lay a Biblical foundation for living an entrepreneurial life that is pleasing to God.

• Finance and Accounting- Three lectures explaining how to financially manage and measure a company.

• Administration- Three lectures covering company administration; everything from human resources to legal matters.

My wonderful friends at Franklin Springs are so generously offering this entire 12 hour, five DVD series (a $124.75 value) to one of my lucky readers! And with so many people out of town, I expect entries to be low, meaning your chances of winning just got better!

To top it off, I’m offering not one but FIVE chances to win this set.

Here’s how to enter. (You must leave a separate comment for each entry to have each one count.) Good luck!

1.) Simply leave a comment telling me why you think you could use this lecture series.

2.) Add my Button to your sidebar, then leave a comment here letting me know you did, with a link to your blog. If you already have my button, let me know!

3.) Post something about this giveaway on your blog. Then come back here and leave a separate comment telling me you blogged about it, with a link to your post.

4.) Subscribe to my blog.

I have been busy trying to get the top floor of the house finished. So for the past 2 to 3 weeks I have been doing some wiring, Hanging light fixtures and finishing sheetrock. I have also done a little bit of bush hogging and need to do some more, I also need to get plastic put over the tomatoes, peppers, and watermelons I still have growing.

Been working on the house the past few days, trying to get the top floor finished. Sheetrock is hung and now I have to finish it then paint and put down wood flooring. Taking a break today, this is the lords day so no work. But will get back to the upstairs tomorrow.

I had a lot of work going on yesterday so I didn't get to post. Yesterday I got the grass cut and weed eated around all the fruit trees (100), also cleared both sides of the creek. Then had to go to town to get supplies to hang the swing on the front porch. Cleaned up in the chicken pen getting ready to redo it and get it ready for more chickens in the spring.

It has been a long day. I got the yard weed eated, a lot of bushes cut down, trees and limbs that had fell cleaned up, and 2 trees cut down (not used to using a cross cut saw so that about done me in). Got 1 of the 4 X 16 raised beds cleaned out and ready to replant and cover. And managed to get stung by 2 Yellow Jackets.

Oh well I did not get done what I wanted to but still a pretty good day. I gathered the okra that I had been letting dry then saved the seeds for next year. I cut down the Okra then went over it with the tiller. I also got to work in the raised beds for awhile. Got supper fixed and kitchen is clean, now time to sit down and rest for awhile.

The garden is tilled, the yard is cut, and the animals are fed. Tomorrow I hope to get the hoops over the raised beds so when needed all I have to do is put the plastic over them. I hope to have tomatoes & peppers for a little while longer. I Would also like to get Turnips, Collards, Mustard, Cabbage, Brussels Sprouts, Carrots, and lettuce planted tomorrow or Monday. I will also be building a greenhouse to see how well I can grow Tomatoes & Peppers through the winter.

I am looking at selling our present place as the house is too large and we don't have as much land as we would like. I would like an underground house with solar panels, skylight tubes, wood cookstove (for heat & cooking), and solar water heating (for use in house & also heating the home). Would like about 80 acres with 1 milk cow, several milk goats, about 40 to 50 chickens, a few ducks, several raised beds, a couple of greenhouses, and about 3 acres of conventional garden for things like corn, okra, watermelons and wheat. ANYONE HAVE SUGGESTION ON UNDERGROUND HOUSE BUILDING OR ANY OF THE SOLAR PROJECTS PLEASE COMMENT!! All other comments welcome also.

Sorry it has been so long since the last post. But I have been busy, Picking, Freezing and pickling Okra. Picking Blueberries, my wife has made several blueberry pies for us and for church. we also put some in the freezer. Also picking Apples and pears. I have also been clearing some more of our land.

Kendra's giveaway

Kendra has another giveaway going on so go check it out, She has a great blog!!
http://newlifeonahomestead.com/2010/04/seventh-generation-giveaway/

Seventh_Gen gift pack

The West Ladies

Their site is. http://www.homestead-blessings.com/

Today was a very nice day to be outside pruning trees and getting the soil in my raised beds ready. I was in the lower 60's here in Alabama good temperature to work outside not to cold and not to hot, had sunshine about all day. I did not get to work in the big garden, it is still to wet and more rain is on the way, should start raing tonight or tomorrow. 

I received my Feb./March issue of MOTHER EARTH NEWS Saturday and have been reading it. There is some very good stories in it (as with every issue). I would recommend it to everyone. I also subscribe to several other great magazines, Grit, Hobby Farms, Hobby Farms Home, Backyard Poultry, are just a few.
I have also been getting my raised beds ready to plant. In my raised beds I Will be planting Head & leaf lettuce, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Carrots, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Onions, Tomatoes, & Peppers. The big garden is still to wet to get into and we are supposed to have more rain coming in for Thursday and Friday (May have to start growing Rice). The Big Garden as we call it is about 1 acre or so, that is where I usually plant my Turnips, Mustard, Collards, Spinach, Okra, Corn, Watermelons, Cantaloupe, Beans, Peas, & sometimes Wheat (for grinding).
WE should be getting some more chickens in March or April so we should have plenty of eggs for our own use and some to sell.
Tomorrow I will start pruning the fruit trees. Hoping for a good crop this year, this will be the 4Th year they have been planted. Last year the blueberries did better than expected, the kids love to pick them and they eat a lot of them while they are picking. We also have a mulberry tree that my oldest son loves.

Go check out Kendra's giveaway @
http://newlifeonahomestead.com/

This is one of the best Blogs!!!!


Homestead Blessings DVD Super Giveaway!!
>29 January 2010

Remember when I told you all about these new DVD’s I’d just discovered, The Homestead Blessings Collection, and how I really really wanted them?? Well, lucky me was blessed with the Six DVD Collection for Christmas!

Can I just say… I love the West Ladies! They remind me of my visits with Adelia. I think it’s cute that you can tell these are just “down home” women, not hired actors playing a cheesy part. Their videos are full of great tips on everything homemaking!

The titles include: The Art of Gardening, The Art of Bread Making, The Art of Canning, The Art of Candle Making, The Art of Soap Making, and The Art of Herbs. And Franklin Springs has just released two new DVD’s to go along with the series,

Just setting here not feeling to well today. First our youngest boy was sick then the wife got it then they decided to share it with me. I sure wish they were more selfish. They are feeling better now which I am glad of. I hate to see little ones sick. They are back at learning as of yesterday (We home school). Anyone out there looking to home school should check out Rod & Staff Curriculum it is put out by the Mennonites and a very good curriculum we have used it for years and been very pleased with it. This year we kept having people tell us about another curriculum so we ordered it and started off the year with it, big mistake. A few months into the school year we ordered the curriculum we should have started with (Rod & Staff).

I have studied the Amish and Mennonites way of life for years and think it is great. My wife and I have talked about maybe someday looking at moving to an Amish or Mennonite community. We are currently looking at an Amish farm for sale in Kentucky. We took a trip this past summer to look at some places. We went to Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ohio (Home of Lehman's). We found Kentucky to be the friendliest and to be the least populated.

I am now also looking at the Quakers. I am interested in learning about their way of life also. Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow so I can share some links to a few Blogs that I really Like.

Raining, Raining, Raining, It started raining last night and is still raining, the photos below are of the creek that runs through my back yard. The creek is normally about 3 feet wide with about 1 foot of water, this is the first time I can remember seeing it overflow and I have lived in this area all my life. I need it to quit raining for awhile so I can start getting my garden ready to plant. I'm not complaining because it is sent by our heavenly father, just wishing for enough time to get some veggies growing. Date on photos not correct they were taken 1-24-2010.

Today was a cold & damp day. I have been getting ready to start some seeds indoors with peat pellets. I have also been on the internet looking at some info on Quakers (Friends) I found a few sites that I really like 2 of which are www.conservativefriend.org And http://quakerthink.blogspot.com . I have been interested in the Amish & Mennonite way of life for many years and I am looking forward to learning about the Quakers.

Now just a little bit on my thoughts. Wishing we had about 200 acres of land with our house in the middle, a well for water, no electricity (except for Solar, Wind or Hydro), plenty of chickens, goats, cows, horses, honey bees, a few green houses about 3 to 5 Acres of garden, a couple hundred fruit trees, a few Pecan trees and grape vines.
I would like for our family to be totally self-sufficient on land we own.

Our wonderful dog Snickers.

This is 2 of my children and their raised beds


















This photo shows some of the fruit tree, Peaches, Plums, Apples, Figs, Blueberries and others. (I need to get busy prunning)








This is my garden spot, some of the fruit trees are in the background. I am ready for a break in the rain so I can get the garden tilled and ready for lettuce, Carrots, Onions and several other good things.










Our home sweet home

Relaxing, sitting here looking through my Lehman's Catalog. If anyone is interested in simpler living products check out their site www.lehmans.com I have been a customer since the 1980's and they have many different types of things Wood Cook stoves, Hand cranked ice cream makers, hand operated mills (Flour, Corn), Hand operated water pumps, Gas Refrigerators, Gas lights & lanterns and many many others items. They are always very friendly.
I am glad to see some warmer weather, hopefully this weekend I can do some garden preperation work. Get the chicken pen and coop finished so we can get the chickens, the sooner we can get them the sooner we can get fresh eggs!!

Oh well we were supposed to get between 1 & 3 in of snow today, we got a few snow flakes some sleet and a good bit of rain, it is still raining. Looks like the weatherman missed it this time but they do the best they can (Only GOD knows for sure what type of weather we will get before it gets here) and we all know after it gets here. Going to be a cold night and tomorrow it is only getting into the upper 20's with single digit wind chill #'s. I am not looking forward to being outside all day, but we must do what we have too. Lets all pray for the homeless that are out in this!!!!!!!!

Worked outside most of the day, it was really cold out there, as I am posting this it is 20 F and still falling. Will be even colder tomorrow and I already have 5 service calls lined up, got to get everyones heaters going. I just keep thinking about all the homeless people out in this and the ones that don't use their heat because they are on a fixed income and can't pay the high fuel bills.
Well I am hoping to get all my raised beds & other garden planned out this weekend so I can get my seed orders in, but if it comes to planning or getting people heat I guess the planning will have to wait.

Hello,
It is a COLD day here in Chilton County, Alabama 38 F with a wind chill of 31 F. I have recieved my seed catalogs so I am going through them seeing what I will plant this year. I have some old favorites that I will plant, But every year I like to try something different, not sure what it will be this year. I have about 352 Sq. Ft. of raised beds, about 1 acre conventional, & 10 hanging buckets. Last year the hanging buckets did not do well, I had tomatoes in 7 of them & Cucumbers in the other 3. The 1st year I had good results with them, So 1 good & 1 bad year, I think I will try some this year and decide if it is worth continuing.
We are also improving our chicken pen and coop as the last chickens my son had the foxes ended up with 29 out of 30 so we are puting netting over the top, 4 ft. chain link around the bottom (Along with the chicken wire), and making the coop so he can gather the eggs without going into the pen ( We use our chickens for eggs only) we don't kill anything other than snakes. The pen is 50 Ft. X 50 Ft. and we let them free range the whole property during the day.
We have about 100 fruit trees Peaches, Plums, Figs, Pears, Apples, Blueberries, Pomegranate, & necterines. (The deer probably get 1/2 but oh well they have to eat also).
We are thinking about getting some milk goats and use the milk for cheese, soap, & of course drinking we have not made a final decision on this yet, we are still gathering information on the facilities needed for milking, bedding, & the pen size we will need, We have about 7 acres total and would like to use about 6 acres to raise stuff to feed our family of 4 and to make some income.
I am looking forward to getting my potato's, Cabbags, Lettuce, Carrots & other crops into the ground in the coming months. Hope to be ready for more chickens around the 1st of March.
If anyone has suggestions on a crop I might like to try let me know ( last year it was purple & stripped tomatoes) I normally order from Baker Creek Seed. also if you raise goats I would like to hear your experiences. I am always willing to learn so all comments and advice is welcome and will be read.