One of our chicks came down with wry neck. We found her laying on her back and thought she was dead. Fortunately she was just too weak to move. This disease can be a visually disturbing one. A chicken loses all control of their neck which means their head just hangs down. They will drag […]
Blog Posts
NRCS
Our NRCS representative contacted us. We will try to pass along information when we hear from them in case it helps anyone else. We have been talking with them about cover crops. We are not sure how many beds we will be able to create before winter. But we do want to make sure that […]
Thumbs Up for the ChickShaw
We said that we would get back with a Justin’s ChickShaw review in a few months. No need. We can already tell it’s a winner. We loaded it up with our chicks and set up a small perimeter for them to free range. They loved their new mansion (compared to their Rubbermaid bin). It took […]
Useful Tools & Accessories
When we decided to start up a small farm, we realized there were going to be a number of varying sized construction projects. Having the right tools can be a tremendous time saver. If each project can be tackled without too much frustration, it goes a long way toward ensuring all the others get completed […]
Chicken Drama
Since we picked up 14 chicks about four weeks ago, we have been on a time clock. We knew that we had about a month to get a coop ready for them. Of course we waited until last week to build it. After considerable back and forth, we decided on the Justin Rhodes ChickShaw. We […]
Life Without National Chain Stores
We lived in Anchorage before moving full time to Homer. Anchorage is far larger with numerous chain stores that many folks would think of as necessary for daily life. Some larger chains in Anchorage are Costco, Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart, Fred Meyer, Safeway, and REI. So do we miss any of these places? Not just […]
Earthquakes, Tsunamis, and Other Stuff
We live in the Ring of Fire so these events have to be expected. The quake was a 7.8 and fortunately the tsunami never materialized. We are up on a ridge above town and for some reason did not feel the quake. Since we are at about 1300 ft altitude there is also no tsunami […]
Homer, City of Peonies
Don’t take our word. Check out the Chamber of Commerce site. So Homer is not only the halibut capital of the world but also a mini peony capital! With 25 peony farms in town, there is no shortage of flowers. Since we are not trying to start production this year, we make time to hit […]
Homesteading on YouTube
We don’t have much time for YouTube (or anything else for that matter) but we do like a few homesteading channels that we catch over breakfast. Our favorite is Simple Living Alaska. This couple exemplify the Alaskan “can-do” culture. If you live in a cold weather climate, this channel is a wealth of information. Next […]
Our Favorite Reads
We are certainly no experts, but these are a handful of books that have helped. Curtis Stone’s book is a good operator manual. He also has a comprehensive You Tube channel. Another stand out is the Compact Farms book. The author provides in depth interviews with a handful of the most successful small farms in […]