Fork In The Road

Something new is coming. I am choosing a new direction. I will be posting on it shortly. It will bring me closer to what I am looking for. I hope it will inspire others as well.

Stuck Inside

We have been stuck inside lately due to thunderstorms. The ground has not had time to dry out. We have a high water table being here at the beach. It is not fun not being able to get out and get things done. I have enrolled in college and taking my classes online. You would not believe the reading required. Krysta is upset that we have not been able to finish the chicken coop and so am I. Not getting out and moving around makes you tired. We are looking forward to the 5th Annual Triangle Farm Tour on September 18th & 19th. We have already picked out our farms and route. With great weather we should have a great time and learn a lot. I will be sure to post some pictures after the trip but, You really should consider going yourselves. Hope to see you there.

Just plain HOT & WET.

     I have tried to get some work done on the garden and the chicken coop the past two days and have had rain and heat. I did borrow my neighbors disc and worked the garden. Krysta and I decided to disc up a small area off to the side where we could plant some pumpkins, winter squash and maybe even some turnips. It is a small test area about 25 feet long and 4-5 feet wide. We double dug it to loosen up the soil. We were able to spread some horse manure over it just as a storm came up and put an end to our fun.
     I am tired of working on the chicken coop. It was so humid today that 15 minutes outside and I was soaked. It would rain then stop and start again. I will (barring more rain) finish up the coop by Wednesday of next week. I have decided to build up the garden this fall by layering manure, straw, and leaves and letting them sit over the winter. I hope this will add to the tilth of the soil and raise the level of the garden to prevent standing water. I think I will try to build two 10'x4' raised beds for the spring also to see how they do. I also told Carla that I would plant her a row of blueberries this fall so I will have to prepare the ground for that also. I only have one more day off so I will have to start doing things around my schedule. I will be in the firehouse for the rest of night shift. Yes, I am considered a firefighter also.

Since I have started this blog I have put in a lot of work with little return as far as the homestead goes. No coop means no chickens means no eggs, you get the picture. I have noticed a personal benefit though. I sleep better, feel better, appear to be getting stronger and just plain enjoy what I am doing. I spend more time with my daughter and less time with the TV. I have noticed myself doing a little more work in the house which I hope my wife notices also. Krysta helps me outside all day and does not pass out due to the lack of television or Wii. Steven will be heading to College in August so his chore list will undoubtedly pass to me and Krysta.
     I have a lot of things I want to try on the homestead and will post them as I go but right now my priority is to get the coop finished. I will try to add a few links to articles and information I implement on the homestead so others can try it out.
 

Home Sweet Home!

It is always nice to get back home and sleep in your own bed. We had a great trip to North Carolina. As you can see the kids got to do a little swimming. They are ready to go back again and I would not mind myself, but I have to get things going on the homestead. I have windows for the chicken coop and a tiller so we can start to prep the garden. I better get started.

Krysta & her Nana

Steven & Krysta

Cannon ball!

 Carla & Her Mom

 Krysta & her Paw Paw

Fun in the sun

I got up early again today. It seems that 6:30 am is my new wake up time. I took CC out to take care of business. I don't seem to mind, and that is what is surprising. I jumped in the truck and went to Walmart for coffee. Yesterday I was going to mow the grass around the trailer and let the rest go because it was so hot. I started push mowing and really enjoyed it. I ended up push mowing a lot more than I usually do. I ran out of gas and bush-hogged the rest. I did not mind the heat at all. I took my time, had several breaks, and drank plenty of water. We crammed all of us and a friend of my son (Veronica) into the Toyota Tacoma and headed to North Carolina. It was a crowded but fun trip. I stopped at my grandmothers old house and picked up some windows for the chicken coop. they will provide plenty of light and ventilation. We spent the night at my mom & Harolds. It was hot but nice to see them. My sisters Jeannette & Donna came over as did my grandpa Lamar (90 years old) and Agnus. Mom fixed chicken pie with all the fixings. I had brought my beans from the garden that Carla had fixed and they got ate up. We all piled back into the truck and headed to Brenda & Butch's (Carla's parents) house on the lake. We all sang songs until we got there. It was fun. We spent the evening at the lake. Me fishing (not catching anything) and the kids swimming.
Today will be a day of relaxation at the lake. I hope I will catch a fish or two. If I don't it will be all right. Carla's Mom Brenda is very kind to let us borrow her tiller. It will make thing go a lot better back at the homestead. I can't wait to get back and get started.
I saw that Peggy and William of Hidden Haven had lost a few animals due to the heat. I am really sorry and hope they get a break from the weather soon. Maybe even a little rain for the garden. It has been dry.
Well everyone else are starting to wake up. Krysta just came in and already has her bathing suite on. So, I better go get some coffee before its all gone. I will post some pictures later. Time to go take a dip in Lake Tillery to cool off.

AHH, a day off - Kind of.

I did not get much done around the homestead today. Krysta and I went down the road and visited her Grandpa Gene & Mimi Ruth for a while. Her Grandpa happened to have a skid of cinder blocks that he gave her. I got the pleasure of loading and unloading them. We took them two watermelons from the garden. When we got back home I took the biggest one (41lbs.) in the house. I put the others under the house where they would be cool.

Krysta and I washed the manure out of the borrowed trailer and returned it. It was very hot today (92 degrees) in the shade and it did not take much time outside to be dripping wet. I have a few blisters from not wearing gloves but I just don't learn. Still there is something about them that makes me feel good.

Carla fixed some cornbread, steamed corn, chicken casserole and some of the peas we shelled and cooked last night. It was great. Krysta even at a plate full. I guess working in the sun increases a growing girls appetite. I have a few things to take care of the next couple of days and will update you on it. Besides working full time as a Police Officer I have a firearms training and sales business Point Blank Tactical LLC. I will start rescheduling South Carolina Concealed Carry Permit classes about four times a month. I plan on being quite busy since I just registered to return to college. I will be completing my Criminal Justice Degree which I started a long time ago.

My family is supporting me in all we are doing and that is what it takes to accomplish your goals. Everyone should have support from their family. If you do not, seek out your friends because everybody needs someone to lean on now and then.

I have to go. My son has a couple friends over for Bible study and I want to eat some Watermelon. It is a great way to end a fine day. 

Getting Ready

Well, I have started a few things the past couple days.

Monday (19th)

     Krysta and I went to a home of a friend who boards horses. He was kind enough to use his tractor to give us a load of horse manure. It sure beats using a shovel. We took it home and to unload it. I used an old roofing company trick. Before getting the manure I placed a car tire at the front of the trailer. I wrapped a logging chain around it, then laid the chain on the bed to the rear of the trailer.When the trailer was full and back home we wrapped the chain around a pole (you could use a tree, tractor, etc.) and pulled forward dragging 80% off the trailer. Krysta & I shoveled the rest. I will cover it with a tarp to keep the rain off and let it season for a while.

I am going to get another load in a day or two.

The right tool for the job.

Notice the tire and the chain.

Krysta shoveling the manure.

Hard work, good for the soul.

Tuesday (20th)

     I decided to start getting the garden ready. Krysta & I picked 14 water melons that were ready. We took one to a friend who lives down the road. He was not home so we left it on a bench by his front door. I hope he, his wife and his daughter enjoy it. We went through the grass and pulled out 50 little melons so the seeds would not be spread through the garden then I bush-hogged the garden and raked out the grass which I piled up to use in my tire composter. A family friend (Carrol) gave us some free roof shingles for the top of the chicken coop nest boxes. I can't bring myself to buy vinyl for the coop floor so we are just going to paint it I think.

Carrol & Krysta with a spanish moss wig.

Shingles

A watermelon for our friend.

Saved melons & a couple cantaloupes.

Tire composter

     Our neighbor Buddy Stevens came over this afternoon and brought a huge watermelon for us. I cut it right there and we ate it (some of it). It was big so we put half in the fridge. Buddy also brought a big basket of beans. We sat in the shade of our house and shelled them while we ate watermelon and talked, all of us together Buddy,Carla, Steven, Krysta and me. I think that is the part of the lifestyle I am looking for. It was a great end to a great day. A little had work followed by casual conversation with family & friends.

Some shelled, some snapped.

Half a basket left.

Real Family Time. Great time to ask questions and talk.

  

   I have to get to work. Going to get more manure. I guess you can't have too much. Be sure to check out the tire composter and my other videos as I learn to post them.

Whats in a name

A quick note about the name of our homestead. SAGSKRES is the initials of my childrens names.

• I am Steve.
• My wife is Carla. Perfect in every way.
• My son is Steven (aka. Bowevil) and he just turned 18 on the 13th and will be heading to the College of Charleston in the Fall.
• My daughter is Krysta (aka. squirrelly) and she is 9.
• Oh yea I better not leave out our newest family member, our 3 year old long hair chi-hua-hua Chocolate Chip (aka. CC).

Thanks for coming. Come back soon.

Starting Out

Here are a few photos of our place and what we have to work with. You will notice that we do not have any trees. This used to be a crop field. It still has the rows in it. You should try riding a tractor over it.

Front yard from the road. We live in the trailer and the trees outline our land. We have just about 2 1/3 acres.

This is the left side of the property. The deep grass is where our garden will be. Believe it or not that deep grass is full of watermelons. The building in the back is our 1500 square foot workshop.

This was a storage building that I had turned into a dog kennel. Now it will be the new home for our laying birds. Notice the five exterior nest boxes. The interior is unfinished. I refuse to spend money on it so construction goes as material is found. I will post videos of Krysta and me building it later.

You can see the cement run left over from the kennel. No predators digging into there. I will be adding a roof also.

Four Muskadine grapevines in the back corner. I plan to add a variety later.

Some used tires I got free. These will make compost bins and I will post how I prepare them and how they work later. I found this on another homesteaders website and thought it was better, faster, and cheaper to start than wood construction.

It looks like a storm is on the way. So I better batten down the hatches.

Trip to hidden haven homestead

Yesterday I decide on a whim to take a short road trip. I got my wife and daughter into the car and headed to Fayetteville, NC. A short 100 miles later we pulled up to Hidden Haven Homestead, the home of Peggy & William Lineberry. The first thing I see is a big iguana in a cage. Due to my late decision to take the trip we arrived just as William and Peggy were sitting down to lunch. I told them I would come back later but they would not have it. Being as gracious as they are they postponed their lunch to show us around.

Hidden Haven is about the size of my place which is why it appealed to me and prompted the trip. The Homestead is inconspicuous and tucked back off the road about 150 yards. I was surprised at the diversity of the livestock. Peggy and William walked us around their place telling us about their different animals and activities. They had various chickens both layers and meat as well as turkeys, pigs (some of which they were watching for a friend in the military), and rabbits of both the meat and pet variety. They had ducks as well swimming in little kiddie pools. They had goats as well. It was hot outside but they did not seem to mind. Peggy was so kind to give my 9 year old daughter a tiny rabbit. She toted it around until it got thirsty then was given another to carry. I told my daughter to her dismay that we could not take it home because we had no hutch for it. Peggy told my daughter (Krysta) that when she was ready for it, it would be there for her. Peggy even got my wife Carla to go inside the coops with the chickens, turkeys, and goats which was surprising and great as far as I am concerned.

Carla asked a lot of questions and seemed genuinely interested. Peggy told us about the herb garden she was starting and gave us two pretty eggplants (dinner to me). She also gave us a book on homesteading. We tried the grapes off the vine as William told us his plans for an arbor like structure for his grapes he wants to build.

We really enjoyed meeting William and Peggy. They are very kind and gracious people, willing to help and give guidance. We look forward to returning to Hidden Haven again in the near future. By the way, on the way back home Carla suggested that I let them (William & Peggy) talk more. I think she means I should talk less and listen more. I will work on that. She said she would love to sit down and talk to them and ask more questions. I think this idea appeals to her. I am not surprised. We have always meshed together well.

Peggy & William will be having a get together soon with some like minded homesteaders and we look forward to attending. If you would like to know more about Hidden Haven Homestead check out their Blog at hiddenhavenhomestead.blogspot.com.

William & Peggy,

Thank you so much for your time and all the information. We look forward to visiting again and hope that soon we will be able to have you come visit our new homestead.

First Steps

Welcome to my journey.

I am a man, a husband, a father, in search of a lesser lifestyle.

Shortly I will begin my post of this journey and how it intertwines with my family, job, community, and relationship with God.