In Baking Mode

Why is it Christmas always makes me want to bake everything and anything? Cookies, pies, pastires, breads, LOL, pretty soon my kitchen will be over flowing and I can feel my butt getting bigger by the second!

Back in early summer, my Mom had a catalog sent to me from King Arthur Flour Company. There's a few things I'd love to have from them but I can't afford them and I won't ask my Mom to buy them for me. But what I think is the most impressive about the company and they're website is the recipe section. Just trying out a few of the recipes posted there (for free no less) makes one a better baker. Plus, think of all the money you can save by just taking the time to do it for yourself! I like Italian and French breads. If I drive 70 miles round trip to a grocery store to buy those breads for anywhere between $3 and $5 a loaf, that's quite a bit of time and money I just spent. For pennies on the dollar, I could easily spend that drive time waiting for my dough to rise and bake that bread myself! Instead of having to be out in the traffic and crowds, I get to tend my plants or read something on homesteading or work on any number of projects I have going. For me, that's double benefit! My time is so stretched anymore, it's just easier for me to do it for myself. Not only does it allow me to get a few more things done and save money, but I am comforted in knowing I'm eating healthier. Which, of course, is the whole point of becoming self sustained.

Later today I will post some pictures of the goodies my kitchen is producing today ;) In the meantime, Merry Christmas!

First Impressions

Or, should I say "worst impressions"? The college girl had an away game close to Grandma and Grandpas house and it's almost Christmas. It's been 10 years since I was up north in the Chicago land area visiting so I followed the bus to Peoria and watched our little Rend Lake ball team tromp all over undefeated Illinois Central. We won in an exciting game(thanks to the blind refs) 70-64 and then off to see the folks.

Anyway, I remember our little community as a small suburb of Chicago, nice and quiet. Not anymore! The urban sprawl has overtaken the area and spread another 15 miles west in just 10 years! The places I used to play are unrecognizable. Strip malls and Townhouses everywhere. The constant traffic was horrible. I spent Sunday afternoon downtown at the museums with my brother and my niece, my kids got to see some city culture and ate my favorite food at an authentic Greek restaurant owned by a family friend. Now that I've had a taste of real Greek food, poor Copper the sheep is doomed! He's going to be a roast and Gyros by the weekend. Poor Copper, LOL.

As I drove thru the urban sprawl and looked around at all the people, I realized how overwhelming life could be for anyone wanting to be even the tiniest of self sustained. Forget about OPSEC, it would be virtually impossible to keep anyone around you from knowing you have a garden or a stocked food pantry. I did instantly see some money making outlets for anyone that could possibly manage to grow even just a few things. The farmers market is a real hot spot. I can't say how much of the produce is actually grown right in the chicago area but the baked goods almost certainly are.

Some of the things my parents and extended family consume are items I take for granted here. the grape tomatoes, giant sweet peppers, the fresh Italian breads and the specialty cheeses. I grow and produce all those things right here. For people up there, the priorities are so completely opposite of what I have tho. While my kids all play sports just like my sisters kids, they both have to work away from home to live and my work is my home. I take things for granted here, things like a pile of firewood, the indoor winter garden and the home made cheeses. I can not imagine having to pay $120 for a truckbed full of firewood! Or, $6 for a carton of grape tomatoes, $20 a lb for real chemical free cheese.

I now must return to Chicago this spring to help my brother create some container gardens in his back yard. His interest in producing some of the things he likes for himself is refreshing and that he would come to me makes me feel pretty good about my lifestyle. Of course I will have to bag up some compost/soil and take at least one bag of my special fertilizer mix for him with some good heirloom seed. I look forward to that a bunch.

I need to find a milk cow. I was properly chastised for not having any cheese with me. It disappoints me too, I miss my cheese! But, I have to hold my ground and not make cheese from my neighbors milk because they did me wrong and i can't encourage the possibility of them using me or my family anymore and I refuse to buy milk from the Amish. Other than defeating the whole purpose, my attitude hasn't changed toward that group of people and I must keep to my principles and values. I hope I find a nice cow soon!

Oh, I forgot the best part of the whole trip, besides getting to hang out with Mom and Dad that is, there was snow! On the ground already and it flurried every single day! My kids got to try snow boarding and loved it.

Well, the bread box is empty and the yummy comfort of all those old and familiar foods is missing so off to the kitchen I go. Lots to cook before Christmas!

Urban Living Post Questions

I'm going to use this post to address some questions a reader has asked. I think the questions are good ones and everybody can benefit from them. Here's the comment with the questions...


"For the growing plants indoors, my husband and I would like start our own seeds this year. We tried to last year, but they got moldy and were very spindly. We just planted them in peat moss and had them on the kitchen table. What would you suggest for a better seed starting medium and lighting setup? I'd like to have a set of metal or wood shelves with lights on each tier. Would that be feasible?

Also, I'm interested in raised beds. They seem to eliminate a lot of work in the end, but we think they might be a lot of up front expense and work. The up front expense is the main problem :) Any suggestions for how to make them cheaply?

One last question! I've been interested in rabbits for years. Right now we have chickens for meat (and I love not having to rely on the store for that!) but we're still considering rabbits. My main hesitation is the dressed weight. I've heard that the dressed weight is around 2 and a half pounds, which seems rather small. How many rabbits do you fix for a meal? If it takes a couple of rabbits per meal instead of one chicken per meal, it seems the extra butchering would be a pain, but do you find the benefits outweigh the extra time involved in butchering? "



One question at a time, I'm going to start with the indoor growing one. The moldy seeds are a normal side effect of temperature changes. It's a draft that causes them to mold. Temperature fluctuations to below 75 degrees. For me it's leaky, poor quality windows. They are double paned and about 10 years old, the ones that flip out for cleaning and they are junk. Even with the seams duct taped, they still are not good enough to keep my seeds from molding. Peat pellets are not the problem, I use jiffy peat pellets every year. I bought a huge pile of them several years ago at the end of the spring sell out at walmart. Even peat pellets using the ziploc bag method will mold if the temperature changes too much.

Now for the spindly. They get that way, especially tomatoes, from lack of direct sunlight. Even in the southern facing windows, you'll still suffer from spindly plants. A simple fluorescent shop light hung above them will help. Hang it high enough to compensate for growth, 18" to 24" or so, mine are roughly 36". Fish tank bulbs are cheap and work well if you can't find UV bulbs. Yes, shelves are feasible, you can use anything you want to, as long as there's enough space to allow room between the lamps and the plants.

Now to the raised beds. Anything will do, any scraps you can get your hands on will work. I set up raised beds for my neighbors with old railroad ties they had laying around. Her garden looked almost as good as mine did this year! Landscape timbers, old fence boards, whatever you can pick up will work. They don't have to be pretty to work, just hold some dirt. Even concrete blocks can be useful. The big deal with raised beds is how great they drain and how easy they are to maintain. so, anything you can come up with that will hold dirt and allow good drainage is going to do the trick.

Now to the rabbits. I raise a mixed breed hutch here, checkered giants crossed with new zealands and californians. I butcher mine out around 4 months old and 2 rabbits makes a nice meal. Mine butcher out around 3lbs or so. Rabbit bone is very light and almost fragile in comparison to chicken. From the whack to the pot takes me less than 10 minutes. Rabbits are extremely easy to raise and even easier to butcher. Basically you whack em, hang em on a couple nails in a barn post, slit and yank. I've done them enough that I can yank a hide almost in one shot now. Cut the head and feet off and into the bucket. Quick and easy. There's subtle differences in the texture of rabbit plus less fat and way more protein than chicken. Also there's the benefit of the rabbit berries...

Meghan, I hope this post gives you the answers you needed, thanks for the questions!

Self Sustained Urban Living

As many of us have realized, things are getting pretty expensive lately. Fuel and food take up most of our paychecks. Life in the fast lane of Blackberries, fast food and video gaming is getting harder. Some would say that is a good thing. Either way you like it, something has got to give.

I can help you with the grocery bill no matter where you live, even in condos and apartments. It is not difficult to grow things such as tomatoes and peppers, lettuce, cucumbers, even melons in small spaces and containers! A sunny spot is all you need. If you don't have a sunny spot, a florescent light or 2 will do.

For people living in rental homes, you can expand a little with a small chicken coop built like a dog pen or even rabbits in wooden hutches. The hutches even work well for a few chickens. Remember tho, if you have crabby neighbors, don't get a rooster! It's also a good idea to check your city or town ordinances to make sure having chickens doesn't violate some unknown law because you don't want to have to get rid of you egg layers as soon as you get them settled in. Chickens are daylight sensitive and lay an egg every 24 to 28 hours so plan accordingly for your egg consumption. Just 6 hens give me 3 dozen eggs a week, give or take an egg here or there.
In an 8x10 coop with a 10x10 run, I have 10 to 14 fresh eggs every day and fresh meat whenever I want some chicken. How to kill a chicken will be another days post.

Remember my post on raised bed gardens? For those of you that have the opportunity to make a raised bed, I forgot to mention how easy they are to maintain! It is easy to cover the garden in the fall with grass clippings, even newspaper or paper sacks, anything organic that will decompose, kill off the weeds, add to the nutrient value of the soil and keep your soil easy to turn. Just one small raised bed garden here produces literally hundreds of pounds of healthy, pesticide free food for my family.

Now to rabbits- I keep 4 does and 1 buck, I breed every other month for 32 to 40 kits for the table. Rabbit is high protein, low fat and can be served up just like any chicken recipe you have.
Rabbits don't make any noise, their manure is high in nitrogen, phosphorus and potash and can be used right out of the rabbit, no composting needed. It will not burn your plants like cow, horse or chicken will. Rabbit is a win win situation! Small spaces work out well as a medium sized meat rabbit needs just 2'x2' to stay healthy and produce for you.

All these things add up to savings. Think about how much money you spend on food stuffs like meat and veges. Canning is easy to do and cooking is just as easy. Think about how much money you spend eating out. A healthy and tasty meal can be whipped up in your own kitchen for a third of the price if not cheaper than that, for just 20 minutes or so of your time. Plus, you get to spend a little quiet time at home relaxing while you do it! Don't under estimate the stress relief of producing your own food.