So how long does a farm appraisal take?  Still hasn't been done.  We have the farm appraisal and the survey to get done by October 25th or we will have to extend the contract. 

In the meantime we wait and it seems like it takes forever.  However, when I was thinking about it this week, it was just last October when we first started thinking about getting back to the land.  Alot has transpired since then.  Alot of saving, alot of downsizing, alot of looking to find the right…

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This week's podcast is now live. You can listen/subscribe directly here, or at iTunes here. If you prefer to just hear this week's episode click here to listen right here, right now.

Also, Tim and Liz will discuss what you want to…

The Practical Prepper

As I mentioned previously, my schedule has changed and I am unable to write new posts at this time. While I'm on hiatus, we're re-running the earlier posts from The Practical Prepper. Thank you for your patience and your continued…

The Practical Prepper

As I mentioned previously, my schedule has changed and I am unable to write new posts at this point. While I'm on hiatus, we're re-running the earlier posts from The Practical Prepper. Thank you for your patience and your continued…

The Happy Homesteader

To do anything that takes time and effort requires some form of inspiration and motivation. Take a job for instance. What could possibly cause a person to get up early, rush around to get chores done, leave before its full light, work for 10 or more hours a day away from home in a stressful job, rush home to spend a few hours with family and share a meal…

The Aspiring Farmer

This post should really be titled "Making Something Out of a Giant Blackberry, Honeysuckle, Wild Rose and Poison Ivy Bramble". 

When we first found our place a year ago it had been uninhabited for…

Well, just as we thought, the sellers met us in the middle so to speak on the repairs.  We will get cash at closing for what we think is about 1/2 of the estimated cost of the repairs.  But with my husband doing the repairs, we should come out ok.  Now, the next thing on the list is the water test - we should get that back tomorrow.  Then we will be ready for the appraisal.  Once it appraises for at least the value of the loan, we will proceed with the survey and then it is just waiting it…

Hey guys and gals,

I wanted to let you all know that I just published my first eBook, and best of all it's FREE! It's called Mob Grazing: 21st Century Grazing Management. All you need to do is signup for my email list. Once you do that, a confirmation email will be sent to you. When you confirm, the eBook will be instantly emailed to you. You can go to this link for your free copy (remember you need to signup for my email list): …

The Practical Prepper

As I mentioned previously, my schedule has changed and I am unable to write new posts at this point. While I'm on hiatus, we're re-running the earlier posts from The Practical Prepper. Thank you for your patience and your continued…

Well, the sellers requested a 1 week extension on getting estimates for all the repairs that the inspections brought to light.  I really do feel like they are honorable people and will at least meet us 1/2 way on the repair costs.  In the meantime, they have pumped both septics on the property (they had not been pumped in the 41 years they lived there).  We hadn't asked for that to be done, but we are glad they did.

So we won't know anything for sure until this Sunday when the next…

The Happy Homesteader

It seems that in every endeavor a person pursues there comes a time when they reach certain plateaus in the experience and things can become monotonous or even a drudgery. I hope I am not alone in this but it seems that many people I have come in contact with have expressed at least a similar feeling about things. Some times its a job that becomes that way, perhaps due to the many tedious responsibilities of one…

What is Litter and Why is it Important? Litter is organic matter, mostly in the form of trampled grass that is physically placed on the ground. We can create litter without the use of livestock, but in this scenario I’ll be discussing litter created by cattle. Litter can be placed on the ground by grazing livestock…

My son runs in the house with a big smile and a new discovery from the garden. "Dad, Dad I have a new pet, can I keep him?" "What did you find son?" He shows me a 4 inch long green Hornworm that make most gardeners cry out with fear. Then I take a dreaded walk to my tomato plant on which he has just found his new pet and see what I expected. Oh no, what is happening to my plants? Look at the holes in the leaves! How hungry are these critters? And why the heck does this huge caterpillar with…

The Practical Prepper

As I mentioned previously, my schedule has changed and I am unable to write new posts at this point. While I'm on hiatus, we're re-running the earlier posts from The Practical Prepper. Thank you for your patience and your continued…

Well I've just reminded myself that I am terrible at keeping a blog.  I had great plans to write on a bi-weekly basis of what we, my husband and I, are doing to get our dream farm going.  Looking back at the blog now, I see 5 months of silence.  Yep, that's me...

Now we haven't been sitting around doing nothing for these five months.  Just nothing very farming.  So I kept putting off typing anything.  So why start now?  Two reasons: First, I see if I don't get back into…

The Happy Homesteader

One of the things I find very interesting about people is the way they handle situations especially difficult ones. There are many personality types and different personalities handle things different ways. Some are very passive while others can be more reactive and even aggressive. I think it also has a lot to do with a person's background and the way they were raised. Its often the case that if parents…

Piping Hot Coffee and Chicken Poop Tea

Cocka-Doodle what? I don't have a rooster! Oh, it's Dirtybird, she's my alpha hen. Apparently, if there's no rooster the dominant hen will take the lead and so kindly tell me at 6:46 AM , they want out! I quickly jump out of bed , pull on my overalls ( yep, I got overalls!), put on my warm sweater( it's a brisk 59 degrees, on this late October morning, in Orange,CA), grab a cup of coffee( French press, of course)and run out to let the…

Growing Healthy Plants starts with Buying Healthy Plants

That sounds like a pretty straight forward statement but it is the simple truth. If you do not grow your vegetable and garden plants from seed, then you are more than likely buying your plants or seedlings online or at a nursery.  It is quite an overwhelming task to scour the nursery for the healthy seedlings and plants that you want to fill your garden with. You poke, you turn, you sniff and yes you may even take a…

One day I was riding out to feed the pigs in the back pasture and I saw a yellow burst of color above the tall grass. "What the heck is that?", I thought to myself. As I got closer I could see it was a sunflower. Not only one sunflower, but a whole patch of them. At least…