Where as most women have a favorite pair of heels (which of course I do too), I would have to say that my muck boots are one of my most favorite items I own.

Of course I don’t just have plain old black muck boots.  Mine are black with cute little colored hearts all over-and a buckle at the top (accessories are important even where muck boots are concerned).

It may sound silly, but when I slip my bare feet into their cool, slick insides, I feel a sense of calm and comfort.  I know that for at least the next few minutes, I will be outside in the fresh air doing what I love the most; tending to my little homestead.

My mind shifts directions and settles.  With my muck boots on, the bills that need to be paid float away, the multitude of responsibilities of adult life subside temporarily.  I walk with peace and purpose.

The peace that washes over me with my muck boots on is much different than the emotions I feel when I slip my knee-high compression socked feet (no varicose veins for this girl) into my Dansko clogs.  With my Danskos on, I am focused and serious.  I am all business-mixed with exhaustion and prayers that the next 12 hours won’t be totally brutal.

Although muck boots are a bit of a spiritual experience in themselves, they are also super practical.  They protect my legs from the itchy, wet grass.  They are also great for walking through the ridiculous mud that accumulates in our pig pen.  When Houidini is feeling less than pleased at his isloation from his woman, it protects my calves from his grumpy nips.  When I dash out to the pig pen in the wee hours of the night to check on Lady-Bug for the millionth time, hoping she is having those darn piglets, they are easy to slip on.

This redhead is full of muck boot love.  If you don’t have a pair of muck boots, I highly recommend you purchase a pair and stomp around in the mud for awhile-it just might change your life.

Don't miss any Homestead Redhead adventures, check out the full blog at www.homesteadredhead.com and be sure to like our Facebook Page. 

If you are on the outside looking in, homesteading can feel like an overwhelming transition from the common way of life these days.  Speed and convenience are the catalysts for society and admittedly, this makes life a bit more manageable with our hectic schedules.  Who doesn’t love to jump in your car, head to a store, swipe a card and come home with everything you think you need and want?

However, the normal way of life is having severe consequences on us as a nation.  Our physical health is suffering significantly from the “go-go-go” lifestyles and the pre-packaged, artificially flavored “food”  this nation is consuming at ridiculous rates.  Our relationships are suffering from the lack of face to face contact, ease of legally dissolving marriages and utter physical and emotional exhaustion of all of our responsibilities.  Our mental health is suffering.  The majority of the population, including children, are using antidepressants, anti-anxiety medications or utilizing alcohol or illegal drugs to self-medicate.

We are left feeling starved.  Starved for food that does not leave us feeling sick and empty, starved for emotional fulfillment and pride in our accomplishments.  Starved for a true connection to someone or something.  There is another way.  There is another life.  Homesteading is where I found my answer.

Homesteading is a general term for living off the land and being self-sufficient.  It is the basics of what our country was built on and it worked for decades.  It is filled with the clucks of contented chickens, the crisp taste of home-grown vegetables and the sound sleep of working hard and accomplishing a goal.  The beauty of homesteading is it can be individualized in every aspect.  You don’t have to sell your apartment or suburban home and move to the middle of nowhere.  You can start exactly where you are.

Basics 

“All good things are wild and free.”  Henry David Thoreau

Do some research and find out what you are interested and passionate about.  There are so many causes for concern in the way our society functions that the options are endless.  One of my passions is the ridiculously poor quality of our nation’s food.

In 1970, the US spent 6 billion dollars on fast food.  In 2006, this expense increased to 142 billion dollars.  McDonalds alone feeds 52 million people daily (Reference).  52 million people, including lots of innocent, growing children, are eating food that is chemically enhanced from animals who are not given proper nutrients in the first place.

And we wonder why heart attacks, cancer, diabetes and obesity are killing us by the thousands?

In my opinion, food should be grown under a warm sunshine and out in the open air.  Cattle and chickens should be given proper nutrients and respectfully culled to nourish our families.  If you want fresh food, you don’t have to go buy a farm.  Look into organic markets, local farms and food co-ops.  Support those that are giving their time and efforts into growing and raising food as nature intended, if you are not able to yourself.

Whatever you find that you believe has a better way of being done, do it.  Talk to local farmers, other people who are currently homesteading and do plenty of research online.  The great thing about homesteading is there are many different ways to accomplish the same goals.  You get to decide and that’s one of the most important freedoms we have.

Getting Started 

Start small.  As you do more research, you will become inspired to get involved in many homesteading projects.  Focus on a few main changes or projects you would like to make, and start there.  You don’t want to become overwhelmed with too many projects, this is the opposite goal of homesteading.  Homesteading focuses on hard work and caring for your body, soul, mind and the land in a peaceful, natural way.

Some simple projects to get your feet wet:

1. Grow a garden
2. Raise chickens
3. Start a compost pile
4. Make your own laundry detergent
5. Cook a meal with locally grown ingredients

Whatever you decide, remember it is about you working with your own two hands (and your family/friends) to accomplish a goal.  It is incredibly rewarding to use your own mind and body to do something productive for yourself and your family.  It is incredibly validating to know you didn’t have to pay someone to get a job done, but instead you did it with your own time and energy.

Lessons Learned 

Homesteading is forgiving.  There isn’t a hard line between the right way to do things and the wrong way to do things in homesteading.  Luckily, if your tomato plants develop blight, that doesn’t mean you have to go without tomatoes for a year, like it did in the time of our ancestors.  We are exponentially blessed with the option to live in the best of both worlds.  You can utilize your own efforts, but also if need be, use what is readily available to you.  One of the joys of homesteading is learning from the mistakes you make, as well as the mistakes others have made before you.

Rewards 

After a few homesteading projects, I can almost promise you will begin to view the world differently.  You will walk with a prouder stance, feel more respect for yourself and your ancestors and feel more physically and emotionally satisfied.

I work as an emergency room nurse in a busy, rural hospital.  I am a wife, a daughter, a sister, an aunt and a friend.  I got married, bought a house, began working as a nurse full time and graduated with my bachelors degree in a matter of a few years.  I was left feeling tired and frustrated at my endless to-do lists and responsibilities.  I was working so hard and yet felt like I had little to show.  Homesteading changed my life and my attitude.

Over the last year, as my homesteading practices have grown, I have developed an incredible sense of peace and pride.  I know that if something were to happen to society or government as we know it, I could provide for my family.  I know that if something breaks around my homestead, I can fix it or figure out how to fix it.  My homestead is my respite for the chaos of the emergency room and the duties of my personal responsibilities.  The work on the homestead is hard, but is more rewarding than I could have imagined.

While true 100% lifestyle change to homesteading may not be for everyone, there is a benefit in incorporating some homesteading principles.  You owe it to yourself and your family to change your perspective and spend a little more time together working toward a common goal.  Laugh, work hard, learn and grow.  Nourish your body, your mind and your family with a journey into homesteading.

Don’t miss any Homestead Redhead adventures, check out the full blog at www.homesteadredhead.com  and be sure to like our Facebook page HERE. 

This time of year, makes most of us full of outdoor project ideas and Spring delight.  We spend hours (and loads of money) on planning out our landscapes and garden designs.  We carefully select which veggies to plant and which flowers to grow.  Has the following scenario ever happened to you?

After back-breaking work in the warm sunshine, you stand up and stretch your sweat-soaked body.  You step back and enjoy the spoils of your work.  After a long day, it’s time for rest and you head to bed and dream of all the delicious vegetables growing steadily outside your window, and the handfuls of fresh cut flowers you will soon have.

As you awake to the streams of morning sunlight, you run to the window to take in an eyeful of beautiful landscaping and what do you see?

Half eaten flowers here, uprooted veggies there, trampled plants and crushed bushes.

While in your fury you may be brainstorming about deer torture devices-save yourself from an animal cruelty charge and keep reading.

This scenario happens all too often.  As we quickly invade the earth, the deer and other garden loving critters are running out of room.  They have quickly learned what delicious delights are left unattended in the gardens at night and make good use of  this all you can eat buffet.  Why not make this year, the year that the buffet closes down for good.

Short of wearing camo and stalking out the deer when they are mid-munch with your rifle (which is great when it’s hunting season!), there are few totally foolproof ways to keep critters (mostly focusing on deer) away, but join me as we explore some fantastic options.

Human Hair 

This is an age old remedy for keeping unwanted critters out of your gardens.  Take your shed hair out of your hair brush and spread it around in the trees and on the ground surrounding your garden.  The strong scent of humans is said to deter critters.  This is a free option-if you have hair to spare!

(Photo Credit) 

This is a store bought remedy.  This is harvested coyote urine that you spray around (not on) your garden.  The scent is supposed to deter deer.  I have not personally tried this one.

Store Bought 

There are endless sprays on the markets to deter unwanted critters.  Some of these are chemically created, but most are elements of garlic, putrescent eggs, and fish oils.  I would be very hesitant, despite the company’s claims of being safe for edible gardens, to spray on actual edibles.  I have tried the Liquid Fence and sprayed it on the ground surrounding the gardens.  These have been moderately successful.  I have found that most dogs love the scents that are supposed to repel deer.

The one product I have had great success with is Sweeney’s 6-Pack All Season Deer Repellent.  These are little cartridges you hang or stake into the ground.  They are filled with a scent powder that is spread throughout the air that supposedly makes deer flee. I used these religiously last year and had great success.  They are around $20 and last all season.  I have heard some not so great reports from other people’s experiences, but mine was positive.  One downside to this product is my dogs loved it.  They would find the cartridges, chew through the plastic and eat the scent powder.  Good at repelling deer-not good at repelling dogs!

Hot pepper spray is also a remedy some gardeners swear by.  You can purchase this, but I recommend making your own.  Here is one recipe I found: Homemade Pepper Deer Repellent Spray. 

Defensive Planting 

You can also plant in a way that hides the most delicious plants.  You can plant large bushes around the desired area, but the downside to this is it is not as aesthetically pleasing.

You can also utilize plants with strong odors to cover up the scents of the other plants the critters are after.  These include Rosemary, Parsley, Garlic, Basil, Chives, Chrysanthemum, Sage, and Elderberry-to name a few.

Dogs 

These are a good method for alerting you when deer are on your property.  Particularly if your dogs stay outside, their scent and bark will likely deter all critters.

Noise-makers and Movers 

This is a remedy I use in my gardens.  Stealthily and strategically place things that will rustle, bang, move or shake.  Last year, I put plastic bags tied to the fence posts to rustle in the evening breeze.  Many people use tin foil pie plates.  One of the reasons I have ribbon on my fence posts currently, is to create movement-and it looks very whimsical!  Deer are flight animals and will flee at any sign of danger or disturbance.

Fencing 

This is about the only nearly guaranteed method of keeping critters away from your beloved gardens.  This method is typically the most expensive, but a great investment.  Raised bed gardens are a good option for creating Fort Knox inspired areas.  The following is a picture of one of my raised beds-they have one section of the fencing that is on hooks for human access:

This has been totally critter proof in the years I have used it.  There is initial cost that can be pricey, but it lasts for a few years.  The area is small enough that deer won’t jump into the fenced area and secure enough rabbits can’t hop up and under.  Full instructions HERE. 

Along with fencing, is the use of netting.  I recommend using this in conjunction with your fencing, but some lower cost alternatives can be made.  For our blueberry bushes, we like to ensure that they are safe from our chickens, the local birds and deer.  We constructed a portable PVC pipe plant protector that is easily removed by a human, but safe from all critters.

We spent about $15 on each plant protector.  We measured to ensure the plant had growing room, cut the PVC pipe to make a box or rectangle shape, attached with pipe with PVC joint connectors, applied netting and secured with zip ties.  This was a fairly inexpensive and easy project.  You could even spray paint the PVC pipe to make it blend in better.

Just make sure the netting holes are big enough for bees to move in and out.

I hope some of these methods help protect your gardens and veggies this year! I would love to hear what methods you have tried in the past or are currently using.

Don’t miss any Homestead Redhead adventures, check out the full blog HERE, and like ourFacebook Page! 

With the chicks growing faster every day, we are in need of another coop.  Currently Solstice and Princess are living with the pigs and they typically bunker down in the pig houses for the night.  I wanted to make sure that when the chicks are moved to the pen, there is a coop that provides everything they need.

I definitely didn’t want to buy one, so I looked around at what we had available here on the homestead.  Luckily for us, we had plenty of pallets that were waiting patiently to be repurposed.

I used three pallets to make a three sided structure and secured with wood screws.

After the sides were secured, I found some sticks in the woods that would serve as their roosts.  I positioned them at different heights and secured in with a few wood screws .   

We had some scrap metal roofing laying around, so I decided to put it to good use and used a few pieces as a roof.  I secured to the pallets with roofing nails.

I also added our black nesting boxes from the girl’s coop and attached them with screws to the sides. 

  

Overall this project only took a few hours and I didn’t have to purchase anything.  If you don’t have any extra materials laying around, check on Craigslist in the free section for any materials you could put to use in this project.  I resisted decorating and making it cute so it would continue to not cost anything!  

When we started the process of founding the Forgotten Forty farm back in 2008, we were, like most people beginning their journey into homesteading, worried about knowing where our food came from. We began researching and interviewing people who were ahead of us in that way, and reading every possible book on the subject. Feeling very confident in our "knowledge" gleaned from these second-hand experiences, we dove in... face first.

There is a big learning curve to this game. Looking back on our mistakes, they seem pretty silly, but that's only because we're looking back on them. At the time, they made homesteading seem like an impossible dream better left to episodes of Little House on the Prairie than attempted by us mortals. Who knew a single raccoon could wipe out a whole flock of birds in one sitting... for that matter, who knew they could undo latches like it's their job?

Those truths of farming are hard lessons indeed. When you spend so much time caring for a laying flock, or nurturing flats of tomatoes only to watch them die before your fist egg or blossom, it's very discouraging, to say the least. What we do when we plant a seed, hatch an egg or buy a chick is enter into a contract with nature, and nature plays by it's own rules. The best laid plans go awry. Predators happen. Animals get loose. Crops fail. Droughts and floods occur, and insects decimate. These are risks we take. Life itself is a gamble.

Many new homesteaders give up in the first few years because of issues like this. Early on, they seem overwhelming, and invariably seem to occur right on top of each other. Sometimes it's enough to make a person spill their marbles all over, but NEVER GIVE UP. The only way to learn how homesteading works for you is by figuring out what doesn't. Each farm is different. Each animal is different. Each growing season is different. Adaptability is the farmer's shield. One batch of pigs never tests the fence, perfectly content to sunbathe in the pasture, and the next batch delights in running amuck anywhere but where they belong. These things happen, but you can't let it discourage you. No one who homesteads can be called lazy. We are a tenacious, resilient bunch by definition. Never a dull moment.

Baby chicks are fluffy little balls of hope.

The next time your goat gets stuck in the fence while your neighbors dog is killing your chickens and your cow is booking it down the road, don't forget to breathe. Every farm has it's horror stories, but every farm has it's wonderful memories as well. When you see the new chicks in the brooder, peeping and flapping their itty bitty wings, full of optimism and wonder, it becomes easier to forget about the ones you've lost.

Americauna chick enjoying life on the farm.

Homesteading is about the future, and the future is full of bright possibilities. NEVER. GIVE. UP.

by Lisa at Fresh Eggs Daily 

My grandmother was a great lady. She kept chickens, knew how to knit AND crochet, and purportedly once beat a rabid raccoon off with a baseball bat. She also made her own mint jelly.

I remember as a child sitting in the garden with her, choosing which leaves we would pick to bring back to the house to magically transform into mint jelly over the course the afternoon.

Sadly, my grandmother died last year. She was just shy of her 100th birthday. Of course her mint jelly recipe wasn't written down anywhere, but I think this recipe comes pretty darn close to the mint jelly she used to make. This was my first year making my own jelly. I don't know why I hadn't tried making it before, because it's so easy and beats the store bought version by a mile.  Our pantry is now graced with several canning jars of mint jelly and I can almost feel my grandmother smiling down.

Mint Jelly from the Garden
(yields four 1/2 pint jars)

1-1/2 Cups fresh mint leaves
3-1/4 Cups water
1/2 teaspoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
1.75 ounces pectin
3-1/2 Cups sugar

Rough chop the mint leaves and measure, packing tightly. Add to the water in a saucepan and bring to a rapid boil, then cover and let stand for ten minutes.

Strain and measure out three cups of liquid, and pour back into the saucepan. Add the lemon juice and whisk in the pectin. Bring back to a boil and then whisk in the sugar, a little at a time.

Once the mixture reaches a rapid boil, cook for an additional minute or two and then pour into sterilized canning jars and process for ten minutes.  Store sealed jars in a cool, dark place.

Join me at Fresh Eggs Daily on Facebook and my Blog for more recipes, DIY crafts, tips, tricks and advice to raising happy, healthy chickens as naturally as possible.
 

    Behold, our half-completed chicken tractor! The Marans are getting a little big for their feathered britches, so my girlfriend and I worked up some new digs. I've got a pretty palatial doghouse (with a covered porch, even) that I got from some friends who needed to get rid of it (they built it from the plans that appeared in the first issue of GRIT Country), and some scrap cedar cutoffs I got from a fence contractor.   

 

 

    We'd love to have a dog, but because we're renting, fencing the property just isn't in the cards - and I'm not an indoor dog kind of guy, for the most part. The doghouse has sat vacant for several months, and surprisingly, none of the local critters or roaming canines have taken up residence. When we realized that it was time to give our feathered charges a new, outdoor home, it immediately came to mind. It's a little on the heavy side, the base having been constructed from 2x6, but that'll keep it stable, and help prevent predators from getting free helpings of my grass-fed eggs. 

    

    

    

Did you know that you can make your own apple cider vinegar with just some apple peels and cores, sugar, water...and a bit of patience? I didn't know either until I started doing a bit of research.

We use lots of apple cider vinegar on our farm for its wide array of health benefits for us and for our chickens. I consider it one of the 'Holistic Trinity' of chicken keeping and vital to my and my husband's health, as well as a key ingredient in any good pie crust!

Adding apple cider vinegar to our chickens' water a few times a week not only makes the water more appealing to them, it also keeps the waterers cleaner and controls the bacteria both in the water and in the hens' digestive system. The vinegar boosts good bacteria and is thought to also even combat coccidia, which is present in most chicken runs, no matter how fastidiously they are cleaned.

Apple cider vinegar with the 'mother' in it, such as Bragg's, is raw and unpasteurized and has the most benefits. The mother is basically a yeast/live bacteria natural concoction that helps balance bacteria in the intestines of humans AND chickens. However, it's not cheap and we go through quite a lot of it, so I started researching how to make my own.

There are tons of blog posts and articles about making your own apple cider vinegar. I looked for the cheapest, easiest way I could find that seemed to yield good results on a consistent basis. Mother Earth News published an article that was the most straightforward of any I read (link below) and sure enough, it's not only easy, but you only need apples, sugar and water....and some canning jars and cheesecloth. No special kits or ingredients.

So the next time you bake an apple pie, save the peels and cores and make a batch of apple cider vinegar for yourself.

Here's how to do it:

Wash, peel and core 5-10 (preferably organic) apples. Another nice thing is that there's no set amount, you can make as much or as little as you want.


Place the peels and cores in a large glass or stoneware bowl and cover with water by an inch or so. Add 1/4 Cup of sugar for each quart of water you used and stir to mix thoroughly.

Cover the bowl with a heavy plate. The apple scraps need to be completely submersed in the water. Cover the whole thing with a clean kitchen towel and let sit for a week in a cool dark location. Between 65-85 degrees is a good fermentation temperature range, and be sure to keep it in a dark place, because UV light destroys the fermentation process.

The mixture will begin to bubble and foam as yeast forms. That's normal and in fact by Day 3, I had bubbling!

When the week is up, spoon off any black mold that has grown. That's also okay and will occur if the mixture isn't kept cool enough, but if you keep the bowl in a cool spot you shouldn't have any mold.

Strain out the apple solids and pour the liquid into sterilized canning jars, leaving about an inch of head room and discard the solids. Cover each canning jar with a square of doubled cheesecloth and screw just the ring part of the top on. (Hang onto the flat parts of the lids, you'll need them later) This allows the yeast to 'breathe' and prevents the metal from corroding.

Store the jars on a shelf in your pantry and wait about six weeks. A film should start forming on the top. The is the 'mother'. You can open up the jars and stir or swirl them so the mother settles on the bottom and more will grow on top.

After six weeks, replace the cheesecloth with the flat part of the lid and screw the ring back on. Stored in a cool, dark place, the apple cider vinegar will last indefinitely. By this point the yeast will have eaten all the available sugars and you will be left with a 'shelf-stable' vinegar. The flavor will develop and evolve over time.

Note: If you save some of the mother from each batch and add it to the next batch, the vinegar will be finished more quickly. It's been hard waiting the six weeks for my first batch, but I have several batches started now that will finish at the end of consecutive weeks, so I will always have a batch of homemade apple cider vinegar ready going forward.
  

Please visit my Fresh Eggs Daily blog and also join me on Facebook at Fresh Eggs Daily and Ducks Too so you don't miss a thing!

 In a mad rush to get our 106 year old farm house ready for a couple of week's worth of family visits, Karen and I put the finishing touches on the kitchen island project. To summarize, this is a project we started almost a year ago, with the sawing of an old dead pine tree into lumber. We later added some home-sawed American black walnut to the mix - from a tree we removed from a pond dam. Sawing our own lumber made the project take longer, but it made our material cost insignificant and allowed us to source hardware from a blacksmith and stools from an artisan maker in Arizona (we gave each other a stool last year for Christmas).

Karen finished the kitchen island's base by first sanding and then staining the pine with a walnut stain. The final touch is a single coat of satin enamel that allows some of the stain to show - she was going for an antique look and did an excellent job with it.

The towel bars were wrought by a blacksmith friend from Volcano, California. The walnut top was glued up using 5 planks. I added breadboard ends and routed grooves for some slightly contrasting strips between the planks on the upper surface. The top was glued with epoxy to which I added some pecan wood flour as a thickener. The assembled top was then encapsulated with three coats of epoxy (no additives) with an additional 5 coats of satin polyurethane. So far the thick walnut pieces have remained dimensionally stable.

This shot shows some of the stain bleed-through on the island's base. The overhang is about 12 inches -- those stools have wonderfully wide seats.

We've been using the island for about a month now and it performs very nicely -- even the old fashioned wooden-slide drawers I made. We did soap the slides before inserting the drawers.

I have been buggin' the hubby since we moved into our little home, that I'd like a vegetable garden. He thinks they make the yard look "messy" plus with the small-ish backyard we have, we wanted to keep open for the kids to have room to play.  

One morning a few weeks ago he asked me, out of the blue, if I'd like him to make me a raised bed for vegetables. To which I responded, "hell yes!" (okay maybe I didn't say that exactly, but I was in bed and he woke me up so I did nod). We got lucky with landscaping timbers on sale, loaded up, and one Friday night we got to work.  

He was cutting to size, I was drilling it together. The kids were trying to "help" which inevitable slowed the process a bit. All in all it didn't take us too long before a lovely raised bed started to emerge. We made it 6 ft long by 3 ft wide. It turned out awesome! 

After some discussion about the location of where this new bed should go - we opted for next to our back deck. Here it wouldn't get too much sun, but enough, and it wouldn't be in the middle of yard. An added bonus is that it would also be easier to mow around.  

The next day I retrieved enough compost and potting soil to fill the newly built bed, and began the arduous task of clearing away some landscaping stones and rock, to which the kids helped as well. In order to move this monster (it was freaking heavy) I had my lil man steer his red wagon, while my daughter and I placed the front of the bed on the wagon and we hefted the back together. We made the 50 ft from the back of the garage to the beds new resting place without too much drama (although my lil man did try to steer us wrong a couple of times), and placed it accordingly. After getting it leveled out a bit with the hubby's helped, the kids and I began to fill it up. 

That complete, we figured out where my newly purchased vegetables and seeds where going to go, and my daughter and I got it all planted and watered. TADA!! 

The seeds germinated and started to break through the surface last week. Although it's a little late for seeds, we should still be early enough to get some use out of the plants. We have green peppers, chives, green onions, lettuce and tomatoes (both regular and cherry). I am SUPER excited!! 

Hopefully the squirrels and other forest dwellers keep clear, and we have some fresh veggies soon! The green peppers are already growing. Awesome! Knowing that I helped build this, and that my green thumb endeavors continue to germinate (pun intended...ha!), gives me a pretty good sense of pride.  It looks pretty darn good, if I do say so myself...and I do!!!

In early spring, wasps and hornets begin to emerge from hibernation.  Their painful stings strike fear in many, but there is now an easy and effective way to kill these dreaded pests. TERRO, a leader in DIY pest control products, introduces TERRO Wasp & Hornet Killer, an entrapping foam spray that coats nests for a complete kill.  For outdoor and indoor use, the aerosol can has a powerful jet spray that can reach nests up to 20 feet away. The entrapping foam kills wasps and hornets inside the nest as well as any returning.

“The cool thing about this product is that it can literally go the distance,” says Stew Clark, Director of Research at TERRO. “Nests are often located in hard to reach places. Our new Wasp & Hornet Killer jet spray shoots up to 20 feet, keeping the user a safe distance away from the nest and reducing the fear of being stung.”

Wasp and hornet nests are often found outdoors under eaves, near windows, doors, patios, carports and outdoor play areas.   Indoors, nests are commonly found in attics.  TERRO Wasp & Hornet Killer can be used anywhere nests are built and where food is not exposed.

“Wherever insects are noticed, stand a safe distance from the nest and spray until the surface is moist. The insects will fall to the ground and die,” says Clark.  To prevent wasps from entering your home, Clark recommends spraying around areas where they can enter, including gaps around outdoor plumbing and vents, cracks or crevices in foundations and along sills and ledges.

“The best time to spray is at sunrise or dusk when insects are least active, “advises Clark. “Spray the opening of the nest until soaked and then spray the rest of the nest.  The entrapping foam will remain on the nest to kill insects that return. Wait at least 24 hours before removing the nest.”

TERRO Wasp & Hornet Killer is sold at leading retailers nationwide and on the company’s website at http://www.terro.com. For more information, visit the company’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/TerroDeadAnts or email expert@terro.com.

This press release is presented without editing for your information. GRIT does not recommend, approve or endorse the products and/or services offered. You should use your own judgment and evaluate products and services carefully before deciding to purchase. 

Cutting your own firebrick (or any other square brick or stone) is no big deal - all you need is a hammer and chisel. You could use power tools, I suppose, but if you’re only cutting a few bricks for one project, it’s faster and cheaper to use hand tools. I take great pleasure from learning that I can do easily something I thought was really tough or complicated, and many folks these days are unfamiliar with, and intimidated by, simple tools and rough materials:  

“But you have to be an expert in order to cut stone,” you think. “What if I get it wrong?”  

Well, if you get it wrong and can’t fix it (OH NO!), then you must: 

    - Locate and acquire another rock or brick. (I understand these are cheap and widely available)

    - Look at your broken brick and spend a moment thinking about WHY it didn’t work. Then decide what to do differently, feel good about it, and try again.

    - Repeat if necessary. I learn something most every time I mess up. I figure that’s worth two minutes of observation and a brick, but you can do the math yourself and decide. 

Pieces and Parts 

You can improvise with almost any heavy chisel and whatever hammer you like or can find. I have used a cold chisel (a heavy, dull chisel for cutting cold metal) as a substitute in the past with some success, but masonry chisels are usually available at your local tool store for cheap, and trust me, that wide blade (see photo) makes your job much easier. I use a 2 lb. short sledge, and a masonry chisel I bought at a hardware store for $5. Wearing long sleeves and gloves ($4) can help protect you from flying chips, and eye protection (also $4) is essential. I like working outdoors, but you can do this in any well-ventilated area. If you decide to improvise rather than buy a masonry chisel, try not to use the fine-edged chisels that are made for cutting wood or hot metal; cutting brick or stone will tear them up. 

Workspace 

Some people prefer to lay the brick on packed earth or sand when scoring, as they believe that it helps hold the brick fast, and transfer momentum from the chisel through the brick more efficiently. I have used a bare wooden workbench or a pile of other bricks in the past without incident. In the photos, I’m using my porch. I should note, though, that the height of your work surface makes a big difference. If you can put the top of the chisel at the height of your hip or so, your hammer will be at a much more comfortable angle for repeated swinging. Experiment and find what works for you.    

Measuring and Marking 

Before cutting, lay the brick flat on a workbench, measure where you would like to cut, and mark this with chalk or a pencil if you want. To break the brick, we’re going to use the chisel to score it; this will create a controlled, precise crack all the way around the brick, so that the break happens right where we want. If I want a perfectly square break, I generally mark lines, so that I don’t make a chisel placement mistake. 

Scoring  

To score, set the chisel against the brick on the marked line and wrap your hand firmly around the straight part of the chisel, keeping your fingers and thumb between the striking surface (‘hammer’ + ‘fingers’ = ‘bad’), and where the chisel starts forming the blade. Hold the chisel upright and steady but don’t squeeze - squeezing will transmit the shock of the hammer blows to your hand and can tire or injure your hand; I find that wearing gloves really helps with this, because your skin doesn’t stick to the chisel. If you’ve never done this before, lightly tap the top of the chisel with the hammer a couple of times, holding the hammer so that the head is a couple of inches above the chisel, and then dropping it. This will give you a feel for what’s going on. Repeat this if necessary until there is a visible mark on the brick.  

Smooth and Steady 

Try not to cut one spot too deeply all at once; this can cause the brick to break in ways that you don’t want; cut each side about the same. Once the brick is lightly scored all the way around, go around again, striking a little harder. If you haven’t ever used a hammer or chisel before, this is where you can experiment – each time you go around the cut line, hold the hammer a little further up in its arc before letting it fall. Try to get comfortable with how the hammer wants to fall gradually - it may seem tedious, but it will give you much better aim later when you want to swing full blows.  

The Right Way to Do Things (cleanly cut bricks, happy hands, and peace on Earth)

The Wrong Way to Do Things (Crooked cuts, flat fingers, and the sound of the Doom Bell)

Breaking Bricks 

    When breaking stone, the most important thing is to confidently follow through with your hammer. That doesn’t mean that you need to swing hard, but you need to let the hammer transfer all of its momentum to the chisel, and the more relaxed you are when you do this, the more likely you are to strike straight and true, and thus get a straight crack. In my experience, a little confidence helps you relax, and practice gives you confidence, so go hit some rocks (safely). Below, the ragged horizontal break is what happens sometimes if you don't score all the way around (I just pounded the chisel through the top of the brick, and this is what the bottom looks like) and the clean vertical break (with white scoring marks) is what happens when you score evenly; you get a nice, straight break. 

    If the brick doesn’t immediately break (firebrick usually takes a couple more hamm er blows than regular red brick; I think this is because it is made of smaller aggregate, and baked hotter) just put the chisel back in the score line and start digging it deeper, being more aggressive with your hammer blows. It’s important here to keep the chisel straight upright, and to swing your hammer with good control so that it comes down straight onto the chisel; an angled chisel can cause a crooked break. 

            Cutting stone is not rocket science. The most important thing is to try it, and to not worry. It might go wrong, but I guarantee you that if it does, you’ll be able to figure out why and fix it, and you’ll feel good for having jumped out there and learned a new skill. 

From the start I have been crowing on about Redpoll cows to all and sundry and then ... 2 Jersey cows turn up on Maple Field. Whats happening? I wobbled violently over whether or not the gene pool of the ‘dairy’ side of the Redpoll breed had become an oxbow lake. Had the influence of ‘beef’ and breeding for a good carcass not a good udder, since the 1960s, turned them into sucklers, not milkers?

I puzzled over this problem until last Saturday. Over a delicious bacon roll at the nearby Bowerchalke Market, I met Quentin Edwards who keeps Redpolls on his farm at East  Knoyle (www.boxbeef.com). He is an evangelist for the breed and since his herd comes from a dairy background, he can (and frequently does) sell milk-producing heifers. We are off to East Knoyle next weekend for an udder viewing. My late uncle –John Ironmonger – kept a pedigree herd of Redpolls for milking in the 1960s on the Shaftesbury Estate, Dorset until the fashion changed to Fresian herds with separate beef enterprises. Don’t forget that  beef  production was always a by-product of the dairy herd. Only quite recently have specialized herds of single-suckler cows ranged over our lowland farms.

Fitting out the Dairy room has slowed to a snail’s pace as my builder friend has become ill. It's not a bad thing for we have changed the position of the cold room to the opposite corner of the room, which means there is no door to the outside. Better security in all respects and easier to ‘cool’. This has got to be right, and time spent now may save us in the long run ... and this is for the long run don’t forget.

The tractor hitch is too high for the bail. When hitched on to the International Harvester 574 the floor of the bail slopes backwards at an alarming degree; we don’t want to make the girls work too hard. We want them to enjoy their milking. Who wants their horizon upset in the early morning? So I tried to reverse the hitch. The nuts and bolts were welded tight with iron age rust. I called in Chris –the 6^th emergency service - and so easily, with heat and moderate violence he took the hitch apart. Is this thing ‘over built’? Do I need the power of 64 horses?

DOODLING: 

If each horse requires 1 acre of pasture to survive the year, I would need to rent 64 extra acres at £100 each = £ 6,400. If they eat through a 20-week winter like my Jersey cows, then 2 horses will eat one bale of haylage per week; 64 horses will need  640 bales at £30 each for a 20-week winter, which gives a feed bill of £19,200. That means that my energy bill for a year would be £25,600. We’ll see how much diesel the International uses in a year. I feel a savings coming on!

Every morning I wake to the din of a blackbird in a tall roadside Maple. Have I missed something? Some mornings the tractor windscreen is touched with frost – but not many. The temperature wanders around 8 to 10 centigrade, which is hardly wintry. Snowdrops already build up a smooth froth on the south facing banks – and I have seen a russet glow forming on the willow.

I am wrestling with  timber ‘firring pieces.’ Our local joiner has machined down some lengths of 4-by-2 to provide a straight guide for us to lay the floor screed to. The firring tapers from 2” down to 1 1/2” over its length to give the finished floor a slight run, or flow, towards the drain. That’s another local craftsman pulling his weight behind this enterprise.

The International Harvester 574 tractor is due to have its handbrake mended next week. I dare not start milking before the power source is totally reliable. Fortunately I have found someone with the knowledge and the will, and someone with brim-full enthusiasm for the more Bronze Age tractor.  Again, we must – all of us, small-holders and townsfolk alike, marvel at and encourage great men and women engineers and husband/people to continue their vital work in getting us all fed. When the dairy is finished and the fresh milking is gushing through the system, we shall publish a list of everyone who was involved in bringing it off; lets marvel at just who is behind a pint of milk on a supermarket shelf or on a damp doorstep in Hampshire.

A small farm near us keeps Swiss Brown cows and they process their milk for cheese. I hope to meet them next week and  find out more. I do already feel part of a ‘movement.’

We are in discussions with an energy company to try and find a system to power the dairy entirely from the sun.

Secretary of State Caroline Spellman (D.E.F.R.A) told us last week that her Department used only 18% British food to feed itself - the remaining 82% was sourced from abroad. What sort of example is that for other Departments?

Notes on the Side: 

I have a book on the go at the moment called "England in Particular" by Sue Clifford and Angela King (2006) of Commonground  (www.commonground.org.uk), which brings together all my interests and talks with deep knowledge about everything from the Dorset Coast to Dew Ponds. The trouble is I just want to sit and read it ! 

G.K Chesterton in "What’s wrong with the World" says, "All men in history who have really done anything with the future had their eyes fixed upon the past" - eg, the Renaissance.

One of the final steps in our ongoing kitchen renovation was to replace a ceiling fan whose blades hit a cabinet door when opened so we decided to make use of an old milk can funnel to create a homemade kitchen light. The vintage milk can funnel is shaped quite perfectly to serve as a rustic shade for a ceiling light, and its tin-plated mild-steel self is easy to modify as needed. Plus you can find antique milk can funnels for very little money at junk shops, farm auctions and even antique shops that offer a decent line of rustic country collectibles. Since I was already working on the ceiling and needed to upgrade the wiring a bit, I also built a mount for the main kitchen lights -- a pair of reproduction drop-pedestal school lights -- and hung them. We didn't mount those lights directly to the ceiling because there was only a single box that served the cloud-like fluorescent fixture and I didn't want to tear up the old ceiling tiles to install new electrical boxes. Both projects turned out nicely, but the milk can funnel light tickles me the most since I built it from parts.

Our homemade milk can funnel light serves its purpose wonderfully and its rustic nature fits the kitchen perfectly. If you don't want the rust marks to show where the tin plating is gone, you can easily paint the milk can funnel with a metallic paint to bring it back to  a more shiny life. 

Here you can see the ceiling sans light fixtures and fan. The fluorescent fixture was in the freshly foamed-in box on the left, while the ceiling fan was connected to the box on the right. Both electrical boxes are fed from the same hot wire but only that on the left is controlled with a wall switch.

I chose a gray powder coated, adjustable lamp head for the bulb base. This base has a 1/2-inch NPT thread at the end opposite the bulb socket. I used the supplied locknut to support a large galvanized fender washer I found in my parts box. The washer keeps the funnel in place and helps keep its soft perforated steel from deforming under the funnel's weight.

I threaded the end of the lamp head directly into a 1/2-inch galvanized pipe coupling. I used tin snips to open the end of the funnel enough to make room. My snipping was sufficiently close that I didn't need a fender washer directly beneath the coupling. Tightening up the coupling holds the funnel securely in place. To the other end of the coupling, I attached a 12-inch long piece of 1/2 inch galvanized pipe, threaded on both ends. The end opposite the funnel threads into the lamp base that goes with the lamp head I used inside the funnel. That base is screwed to the ceiling box.

Since we wanted this light to be operable separately from the wall-switched main kitchen light, as was the case with the old fan, I left this side circuit wired hot and installed a pull-chain switch inside the lamp base. Since the lamp base is quite angular and modern looking we decided to cover it with a canopy, which you can see here. We couldn't find any canopies at the local electrical supply place that suited perfectly so we just bought an inexpensive one and modified it. First I used a large twist bit in my drill and some filing to open up the hole in the center to accommodate the 1/2-inch galvanized pipe. Second, I drilled and filed out a hole to allow the pull switch to see the light of day and finally. I noticed that the canopy required a couple of screws to be threaded into the fixture to which it was designed to be attached. To work around this problem, I drilled and tapped the lamp mounting base for screws that would fasten the canopy in place. Those screws are beneath the two acorn nuts you see in the photo above.

We installed an Edison-style low watt incandescent bulb in the homemade fixture for that certain ambiance. I was prepared not to like it, but I really do. As with any electrical work, don't take on more than you are knowledgeable enough to handle. Simple wiring and lamp installation is easy for the average person if you understand the fundamentals and have excellent resources at hand. Study the appropriate sections in home improvement books and online to ensure that your work is up to code and most importantly safe.

For the over-island lights, I took the old fluorescent fixture's frame, gutted it except for it's mounting bar, and installed a couple of light-mounting electrical boxes to support the lamps. Next I wired up the new boxes and connected them to the original ceiling box, cut some galvanized steel to enclose the works and installed the lights. I lightly sanded a swirl pattern into the galvanized steel to make it look less stark. Now all that's left of the kitchen renovation is to finish the island, paint the ceiling and widen the door opening to the dining room. Stay tuned.

For me, building a kitchen island with wood grown and milled into lumber on my farm is a labor of love. It's also slower than if I bought all the materials and didn't take the time to appreciate the process itself. In the first installment, I reported on using my drill press to rough out the mortises for the front and back frames. I decided to switch to hand tools for cutting the mortises for the framing members that connect the front and back and that will support the drawers. I still used the table saw to form the tenons. I was surprised at how easy it was to square and plumb the assembled frame. My thoughts are now aimed at completing the drawer slide framing, building drawers and then milling more lumber for the sides, back and cabinet doors.

I used a level concrete floor to plum and square the kitchen island's mortised and glued frame. In this shot I have not yet removed excess glue -- yes, I used Gorilla glue just like last time and it expands a bit as it cures and pushes out of the seams.

Chopping mortises is much easier if you remove as much material as you can with a boring tool of some sort. The ships auger chucked into an old fashioned brace makes for easy boring. Take care to keep the bit plumb and you'll have an easy time cleaning the excess material out with a pair of heavy-duty mortising chisels and mallet.

Since I only have a few bar clamps long enough to span more than 24 inches, I just use binder straps where practical. With two bar clamps and two straps, a little tapping, wracking, and setting a 100-pound plank on top of the frame it was amazingly easy to get it all plumb and squared up. It'll be a few weekends before I get back to this project, but at this point I'm very motivated to finish it. Stay tuned.

Here at Chiot's Run fall means an abundance of local unpasteurized cider. We have a local mill that makes fantastic cider and sells it out of a little cooler out back. We've thought about trying to make our own, but with someone doing it so well, it's not worth trying to top it.

Having cider in the house means we'll be enjoying mulled cider every evening. There's something so comforting about a nice cup of hot cider warmed with delicious spices like: ginger, cinnamon, allspice and cardamom. I usually just add a few bits of each spice to a pot each evening then fill it with cider and allow it to steep for a half hour to an hour. Sometimes however I like to mix up a big batch of mulling spices to keep on hand and to fill small decorative jars to have on hand for the perfect fall hostess gift. This mix can be used for cider or wine. This year I decided it would be my gift of choice for friends & holiday parties. This is super quick and simple to make, as long as you have all the spices on hand, which I always do. You can even customize it to the person you're giving it to or to your own tastes. I use the same recipe for these jars as I use for my own cider. I keep all of the organic spices on hand since I buy in bulk from Mountain Rose Herbs. The vanilla beans I get very inexpensively from Saffron.com.

These are also fairly inexpensive. I spent more on the jar itself than the spices inside. I could have used regular canning jars, but I really wanted to make look a little different. I also thought these beautiful little jars would be ones that people would save and reuse as well.

CHIOT'S RUN MULLING SPICE MIX  

I don't like the flavor of citrus in my cider, if you do feel free to add orange peel. You can also add dried ginger chunks or nutmeg if you like, use what you've got on hand and what you like in your cider.

4 Tablespoon cinnamon chips (I prefer sweet cinnamon over the regular cinnamon)
4 Tablespoon allspice berries
1 Tablespoon cloves
1 Tablespoon black peppercorns
8 cardamom pods slightly crushed
1 vanilla bean cut into small pieces

Mix spices in small half pint jar, label and give away with directions: Mix 1 Tablespoon of mulling spice for every 2 cups of cider or wine, heat till almost boiling, reduce heat and steep for 30 minutes, enjoy.

When it comes to cider are you a mulled cider kind of person or do you like it cold?  

I can also be found at Chiot's Run where I blog daily about gardening, cooking, local eating, beekeeping, and all kinds of stuff. You can also find me at Not Dabbling in Normal, Simple, Green, Frugal, Co-op, and you can follow me on Twitter. 

As part of the kitchen make over at our 104 year old farmhouse, my Partner In Culinary Crime and I decided to build an antique canning jar light to replace the shabby 1970s vintage fixture that dangled over the sink. We sourced an old Mason jar with a tin screw-on lid at the local antique store and I dug through a box of outdoor electrical junk I had collected over the years and came up with a plan. We did stop at our local big-box home improvement store for a pull switch and small-diameter 40 watt bulb to help it all come together. We opted for a rigid stalk-mount on our antique canning jar light but you could just as easily make it a pendant if you use electrical cord rated to bear sufficient weight.

After rummaging around for a bit, I decided to use parts from a motion-activated outdoor light that came from the old mud room as it was torn off the house. This fixture included a weather-resistant surface-mount box and with two light stalks and one motion sensor screwed into its cover. The parts were black so my PICC spray painted them with heat-resistant paint to more or less match the antique canning jar's weathered tin lid. Since the old light fixture was hard-wired without a wall switch, I knew I would need to install a new pull-switch in the unit or tear out a bunch of wall. Surprise, surprise, I opted to drill the cover for a new pull switch. Basically, I relocated one of the light sockets to the cover's center hole, installed screw-in plugs in the other holes and drilled a 3/8 inch hole to accommodate the new pull switch. The surface-mount box was plenty large to contain the switch and wiring.

Since the canning jar's lid had a glass liner, I smacked it with a hammer to crack it (safety glasses a must) and it came out without damaging the tin lid. Next I took my 1.5-inch diameter hole saw and chucked it into my trusty Milwaukee 1/2-inch chuck Hole Shooter and slowly and carefully cut a 1.5-inch diameter hole in the center of the tin lid. You need to be a little careful here because it is tough to clamp the lid without distorting it  but if the hole saw grips while spinning fast, there's a decent chance for some serious rash on your hand. I have lots of experience cutting holes in sheet metal with hole saws so I managed to make the cut with no damage to my hands or the lid.

I needed to remove the light stalk from the box to slip the canning jar lid down over the inboard socket end. The socket was molded with a flare and small flange, so I carefully pressed the canning jar lid down the taper to rest against the flange. After reinstalling the stalk, I wired it up (power was off to that circuit), buttoned it up, flipped the breaker and voila, light. This project was quick, fun and didn't cost much. If you had to purchase the parts you would be out a minimum of about $20 depending on the antique canning jar market in your area.

By now you've figured out that I love books, especially books that empower you with all the information needed to build just about anything. My favorites among those works offer a glimpse of hope for folks without all of the modern tools or the shiny new methods mastered. I recently picked up three such how to build anything titles that were originally published in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and recently brought back to life by Skyhorse Publishing. The prose in the books is positively delightful and offers a glimpse into period phraseolgy as well as lovely illustrations of entirely buildable projects that you might actually still attempt with hand tools -- although no demerits are given for judiciously employing power tools or modern versions of vintage tools and machines.

The first couple of titles are devoted to building specific things that are useful around the homestead, at your hunting camp, for your back 40 escape or just for fun. Shelters, Shacks and Shanties and How to Make Them by Boy Scouts of America founder D.C. Beard and Fences, Gates and Bridges and How to Make Them by George A. Martin offer excellent ideas with sufficient instruction to build bark teepees, log cabins, log and clay chimneys, dog-proof fences, stock-proof hedges, rustic gates, wooden bridges, stone culverts and so much more. While you might want to substitute readily available modern materials for some of the recommended supplies, these books should inspire you to make use of the bounty that your land offers to create really useful and potentially fun items to make your homestead a happy place, while saving plenty of money in the process. Although I fancied myself an experienced fence builder before reading these books, I learned of several styles of fencing that were formerly unknown to me. I also learned why those pioneer cabins with log chimneys didn't catch on fire and how to build sufficient woodland shelters that I'm tempted to leave the tent behind the next time I go camping -- don't worry, I won't deface any public or private property in the process. 

The third title, The Handyman's Guide: Essential Woodworking Skills and Techniques by Paul N. Hasluck takes a turn of the last century approach to educating the average Joe and Jane on professional approaches to virtually all aspects of woodworking. This book is beautifully illustrated with drawings, plans, photos, you name it, and it begins with an excellent tool history and listing of the tools of the day with instruction on how to use them. Once you know a brace from a bit, you can move on to learn the nuances of joinery and discover which joints to use in virtually every situation. And then you are presented with several hundred pages of woodworking lessons disguised as projects -- birdhouses, balustrades, sideboards, workbenches, tool boxes, small buildings -- they're all in this book. This tome of woodworking titles also includes valuable reference materials on everything from wood species identification to nail and screw types to sawing logs to -- you get the idea. Whether you are a seasoned professional or a rank amateur, The Handyman's Guide will encourage you to try something new or a different technique, and inspire you with hundreds of projects.

I place all three of these new-old titles in the "must have" category for all do-it-yourselfers out there, and they most definitely deserve a prominent place in on your homestead bookshelf. Look for them at a bookseller near you or online.

Now that the mud room project is completed, my Partner in Culinary Crime (PICC) and I have moved on to stage one of the next project, which is a kitchen cabinet facelift. We live in a 104 year old farm house that was outfitted with built-in-place hardwood plywood cabinets in the 1970s, and while those kitchen cabinets are roomy, they really needed a facelift. Since neither of us is interested in blowing  $40,000 or more on a kitchen update or putting a bunch more stuff into the landfill or burn pile, we put our heads together and decided against buying new doors for the cabinets. We chose instead to modify them to look like something that they are not. So with minimal investment in anything other than time and a few tools, we transformed the well dated kitchen cabinet doors into something that looks a little more rustic and makes for a much brighter kitchen.  

The first step in the process involved carefully labeling the doors, drawing a map to be sure they would go back into the same places and removing all the hardware. We decided to replace the handles with knobs but wound up painting the hammered bronze hinges black rather than using new hinges. Yes, you can paint hinges and yes the paint will stick.  

While my PICC prepped the interior of the cabinets and filled screw holes, I took the doors to my router table and using a pointed plunge-type round-over bit I first routed a groove into the center of each door to make it look as though it was formed from two tongue and groove boards. I relieved the outside edges of the doors with the same bit to give them a uniformly rounded perimeter. When working with the router table it is really important to keep the work snugged up against the fence or you will get significant wandering.

We next filled the screw holes on the doors and gave everything a good roughing up with 100-grit sandpaper -- even though the special glossy-surface primer that my PICC sourced didn't require it. I should mention that the primer was a low VOC product that covered things nicely, left a great surface for the topcoat and was easy to use with the house closed up because it was virtually fumeless and it cleaned up with water. Sweet!

We used brushes and small microfiber rollers to apply the primer and topcoat. We brushed out the rolled topcoat, which was a top of the line Valspar low VOC paint. My PICC bought the stuff and paid way more than I have ever paid for paint (except for tractors) but wow, did it go on smooth and brush out beautifully. Oh, and it covered in one coat no sweat.

Painting the doors was a trick for us because we have relatively few flat surfaces for drying them. The dogs were evicted from the house during this operation for obvious reasons. The little dots you see in the corners of the doors is where we have the door numbers -- we used permanent marker and took care to sand and paint around them.

Callie the calico cat and our terriers Pearl and Molly like to tease one another. Callie found that the top cabinet made a much cozier vantage point than the top of the fridge from which to cast her canine slurs. Once I got the doors reinstalled, she was forced out.

Though our kitchen is far from completed, the successes with this first bank of cabinets has us motivated to move on. Right now we feel like we might splurge and replace the 40-some year old laminate counter top with a natural material -- and on a lark, a couple of weeks ago we ordered a new cast-iron sink and fixtures. Stay tuned.

Last Saturday I finished building a multipurpose key cabinet as an almost final touch in my ongoing mudroom project. I designed the multipurpose key cabinet to cover a pair of ancient washing machine water spigots protruding through the wall (yes, I know I should have removed them and capped the feed lines but...), provide a place to hang equipment and vehicle keys and provide small shelves for items like matches, utility knives, multi-tools and human headlamps that all get used outside and so often misplaced. As with the pantry cabinet, I built the multipurpose key cabinet using readily available dimensional lumber -- but this time the lumber was all in the form of scraps from the pantry cabinet project.

After a bit of measuring and figuring, I decided that the cabinet needed to be about 4.25-inches deep on the inside to fully enclose the spigots and my Partner In Culinary Crime (PICC) thought that the cabinet ought to be 16 inches wide and 32 inches tall. I went out to look over the scrap pile and those dimensions were easy to find material for and would leave sufficient additional scraps to build some other fun things. For the top, bottom and two sides, I ripped 4.25-inch wide boards from the cut-off end portions of the pantry's shelves, which were made with 2 by 10 number 3 grade pine. As luck would have it, I was able to rip all the 4.25-inch wide stuff I needed from knot-free portions of the scraps. As before, I simply screwed the pieces together to form a rectangle and squared it up by measuring corner to corner, clamping it to my portable workbench and installing 1 by 3 nailers to the inside top and bottom -- drywall screws to the rescue again.

Since we didn't want the plaster exposed inside the key cabinet, except around the spigots, I cut two lengths of 1 by 10 material from a clear number 1 pine scrap and installed them as before. Next, I cut two shelves from 1 by three scraps and installed them, leaving plenty of room for the keys to dangle. After this, I mounted the cabinet to the wall, screwing it fast to the studs and plaster lath using 2.5-inch deck screws. My PICC held the cabinet in place while I screwed the top-left corner of the upper nailer to the wall. We then used a level to level the cabinet and set the other three screws.  

The next task for me was to build a single door -- the process went like this.

1. Build a frame to fit inside the cabinet with about 0.25 inch of clearance all the way around. I used 1 by 3 material ripped in half and drywall screws to assemble the frame.

2. Once squared up, I attached tongue and groove pine bead board to the frame using very short finishing nails. The top, bottom and outside frame members were overlapped with the bead board by about 0.25 inch.

3. Build the outer door frame using 1 by 3 pine -- cut rebates with the table saw to accommodate the overlap with the bead board. The outer frame members were attached to the inner frame from the back and to each other with glue.

4. Cut reliefs for the hinges and install them.

5. Install door on the cabinet.

My PICC thought we had enough darkness in the mudroom already -- floors, rustic walnut bench, pantry cabinet -- so she decided to paint the multipurpose key cabinet a sage green that matches one element of the adjacent kitchen floor and that she plans to use on the kitchen island I build one day.

As I stood back admiring the cabinet, my PICC lamented that the rows of muddy boots and other boots and shoes in the trays by the door looked kind of cluttered. I had to agree. So even though this was the last planned mudroom project, I think we will try to come up with a boot cabinet of sorts that can house the clean dry boots and at least camouflage the muddy and wet ones. Stay tuned.

I wanted to answer some questions about the the incubator here on the farm.

Did you build or buy the incubator?

It is a large walk-in incubator that FarmMan built. You can see more here –> Incubator 

The building was empty and not finished for several years (it still needs painting, always something waiting to be finished around a farm) until last year when FarmMan decided he wanted to start hatching eggs again.

 Years ago he hatched and sold all types of poultry and enjoyed it. He insulated the building

and built an inside walk in unit to hold the eggs.

How many eggs will the incubator hold?

A whole lot! Over a thousand. Thank goodness we haven't set that many ... yet. Both sides of the incubator can hold the tubes of eggs.

How long can you wait to set the eggs?

Hatching eggs should be incubated within 1 week to 10 days after they are laid.

How do you store the eggs?

Until they are incubated, hatching eggs should be stored in cartons or cases. We have these plastic trays that FarmMan bought at a livestock auction years ago.

Place the eggs large end up at 40 to 70 degrees F (50 to 60 degrees F is best) with a relative humidity of about 75 percent. Which was in my dining room last year. This year we have the eggs in the brooder section since we don't have biddies yet.

How do you set the eggs?

FarmMan made these wire tubes that hold around 12-15 eggs each. He places the eggs with the small end down.

The tubes then sit on the racks in the incubator. To turn the eggs we just carefully flip the tube over to the side.

How often do you turn the eggs?

We started out turning 3 times a day but found out that 2 turns a day(12 hours apart) will yield just as many baby chicks. What should the humidity level be? Moisture is also very important in hatching. The moisture level in the incubator should be about 50 to 55 percent relative humidity, with an increase to about 65 percent for the last 3 days of incubation. The black pan in the corner holds water. We have another pan of water on the other side also. Each side also has it's own fans, heating elements, and wafer thermostats to get the incubator heated up to the correct temperature.

What temperature do you keep the eggs at?

Between 99 and 102 degrees F. We try to keep it at 99.5 degrees F. It is very important to keep the eggs at the right temperature we found out. When we first started trying to hatch eggs last year week after week we were disappointed with very few eggs if any hatching. See more here –>Problems. 

We found out our thermometer was not showing the correct temperature. I ordered a new one – A DIAL THERMOMETER/HYGROMETER. The description states that it is the most accurate incubator thermometer available. It is supplied with a wick and may be used as a Hygrometer in circulated air incubators by mounting a water bottle below the tip of the thermometer.  From then on we had pretty good hatches.

What is your percentage rate on hatches?

After we solved the temperature problem the hatches stayed around 85 to 90 percent most weeks. Some weeks better. Some not as good.

Do you sell the baby chicks?

Yes. Even though I wanted to keep them all, we take most of them to livestock sales/auctions to sell.

Where do you keep all the baby chicks after they hatch?

The front part of the incubator building is the brooder section. We use heat lamps to keep the biddies warm.

We also have this brooder that we bought at the livestock/animal auction. It is an older model but all the lights still worked.

It is also in the front section of the building.

We use it mostly with the Pharaoh Quails.

What bedding material do you use in the brooder?

We tried wood shavings but found out that the pine straw works better in the brooder. The biddies were always trying to eat the wood shavings.

I hope I answered most of your questions. If I miss any or if you have more questions feel free to ask. There is work involved with hatching and raising the baby chicks. Plus not a big profit. But there is a lot of satisfaction seeing the end result.

You have to admit, they are cute!

Please visit me on my personal blog here –> Life on a Southern Farm

Have a great day.

When I moved to Kansas almost 2 years ago, my love for our beautiful rural area encouraged me to think of ways to live more gently on the land and to leave less of a footprint, especially where chemicals are concerned.

I must admit I find myself on a roller coaster where being environmentally “green” is concerned ... one day I want to be more economical and more environmentally conscious, and other days I feel like it’s too much effort. So I won’t lie, it can be a struggle at times. Sometimes it’s easier to revert to what appears to be easier. Honestly, if you really think about it, using prepackaged detergents and cleaners is not EASIER (and it’s definitely NOT cheaper!), it is simply that we have become accustomed to buying many of our home cleaners “off the shelf,” for the sake of perceived convenience. I believe that if we can adjust our habits, then those new habits will eventually become the “new” easy. And we’ll feel really good about it too. A big bonus.

There is no shortage of recipes for all types of home cleaners on the internet. But let’s start with something simple. I feel that this particular challenge is possibly one of the easiest first transitions to make.

I am going to give you a recipe to make your very own homemade laundry detergent. And if you are saying “I don’t think I’m inclined to make my own laundry detergent,” well, then, I’ll give you some tips later to save with what you ARE using.

First, the recipe:

• 4 cups of water
• 1/3 bar of cheap soap (Fels Naptha), grated
• 1/2 cup washing soda (not baking soda)
• 1/2 cup of Borax (20 Mule Team)
• 5-gallon bucket for mixing
• 3 gallons of water

Tips:  You can use Fels Naptha or any regular bar soap for the cheap soap. Washing soda and Borax can both be found in the laundry aisle at your grocery store. (Usually.) Except at Walmart in Kansas. What the heck??!

First, mix the grated soap (I’ll be using Lever, since we have a bunch of it) in a saucepan with 4 cups of water, and heat on low until the soap is completely dissolved. Add hot water/soap mixture to 3 gallons of water in the 5-gallon bucket, stir in the washing soda and Borax, and continue stirring until thickened. Let the mix sit for 24 hours, and voila! homemade laundry detergent.

Yep. That’s it.  Simple, huh?

Or, if you prefer powder detergent, it’s even easier:

• 1 cup grated Fels Naptha soap
• 1/2 cup washing soda
• 1/2 cup Borax

For light loads, use 1 tablespoon. For heavy or heavily soiled loads, use 2 tablespoons.

The savings?? You can save 90% of the cost of store-bought by making it yourself. Total cost per load? In the neighborhood of 2 cents. Store-bought detergent, depending on what you buy and where you buy it, can cost about 20 cents per load – 10 times more.

(I’m buying the washing soda and Borax as soon as I can find it somewhere here in the land of Oz, so I will let y’all know what I think of homemade detergent once I’ve had the opportunity to mix my own and try it out.)

Now, here’s another novel idea that’s been hashed out in the public biosphere:

Is detergent even necessary?

Seventh Generation’s co-founder, Jeffrey Hollender, wonders why more people haven’t stumbled upon laundry’s big, dirty secret: “You don’t even need soap to wash most loads,” he says. “The agitation of washing machines often does the job on its own.”

Wow!  Really, Jeffrey, he-who-heads-up-a-household-cleaner-company?  Are you totally serious??  I applaud you for even uttering this statement, when you obviously stand to profit from selling as much laundry detergent as you can!

As it turns out, something that may be even more effective than soap is agitation. Ancient people used rocks and rivers, but your modern washing machine can clean lightly soiled clothes by just pushing them around in water.

So when you think about the way our forefathers did laundry, it does make you wonder: Is the laundry detergent industry a huge sham, just a way for others to profit from our ignorance?? One thing I can assure you: The powers-that-be are surely not unhappy when you use TOO much of your fancy-schmancy concentrated detergent.  Read this recent eye-opening article from the Wall Street Journal to learn more about “The Great American Soap Overdose.”

The blog Funny About Money decided to conduct experiments using only water in their washing machine. Their final analysis? “By and large, all of the freshly washed clothing came out with an odor: It smelled of clean water!”

If washing your clothes in plain ole water just doesn’t float your scuzzy boat, nor do you really want to make your own detergent, here are some other good alternatives:

• Use half the amount of detergent you normally use.  By and large, you will not see any difference at all – your clothes will be just as clean as when you use tons of detergent.
• Try one of the new eco-friendly detergents on the market – you’ll use less, and be gentle on our environment at the same time.
• I highly recommend Method – only 4 squirts from the bottle for most normal loads! And it’s high-powered, plant-based formula is made using 95 percent natural and renewable ingredients. It’s readily biodegradable and non-toxic in use, for skin-friendly clean clothes. I got my 10 oz. bottle of Fresh Air scent (smells extra good!!) at Lowe’s for $7.99 – you can get a $2 off coupon at the Method website.
• Other eco-friendly detergents to try: Seventh Generation, greenworks by Clorox.

Costs for the above alternative detergents:

• Method, 25 load size, $7.99/btl, 0.3196 cents per load
• Seventh Generation, 99 load size, $19.99/btl, 0.2019 cents per load
• greenworks* by Clorox, 60 load size, $7.97/btl, 0.1328 cents per load

*I think the greenworks was on sale at Lowe’s, about $2.00 off.  I think ... can’t remember? Regardless, it’s still the cheapest of the bunch overall.

Ok, y’all, that’s my two cents worth on laundry detergents. There's tons more information out there on the big ole internet, if you need or want it.

I’m really getting into this self-sustainability gig, and it sure makes me feel good to reduce my reliance on Walmart and other big industrial giants.

If you’ve made your own detergent, or dishwashing detergent, or mayonnaise (yes, you can make your own mayo too!), then do tell me about it. I’d love to hear your story!