When you live in a rainforest, it rains.  (Right about now you're probably thinking, "No kidding [or insert expletive here], Sherlock.")

Stay with me here.

Are you ready for another ridiculously obvious statement? (I'm on a roll!)  Lots of rain means lots of mud. 

So What's the Problem, Lady? Are You Scared of Getting Mud on Your Shoes?

Before you think I'm whining about the rain or scared of getting dirty, it's not about me. If I was scared of mud, I'd still be living in a townhouse.

Here's the deal - when you live in a rainforest, and it rains all winter, and you have 20 chickens that need to keep their skin and feathers healthy, and you can't let them free range very often because your property is surrounded by hungry coyotes and hawks, you have a problem.

Something I didn't think about when we got chickens originally was how we'd create spaces for them dust baths if they couldn't free range, because the plan was for them to free range.  When the coyotes arrived, that plan got shelved pretty quickly.  The birds still get out every couple of days for an hour or so to access their 'under the porch spa', but it's not enough to keep them healthy in the 'bathing' department.  So what's a person with chickens confined to a coop and run to do when the ground is either muddy - or conversely, frozen - when it comes to creating opportunities for their birds to do what chickens are supposed to do naturally: bathe in dust?

Why is Dust Bathing Important?

Bottom line - chickens don't bathe like we (or many other animals) do.  Counter to what intuition might tell you, they get clean by getting dirty.  Naturally (i.e., in the wild or when free ranging), they'll dig a shallow pit in suitable soil (the dustier the better), loosen it all up with their claws, and then roll around in it, fluffing it through to cover every possible spec of skin and feather.  Why would they do this?  It keeps parasites such as mites and lice from taking hold, and weirdly, even cleans their feathers to some degree.  Case in point - these are our young ones and rooster last summer:

The Family That Dust-Baths Together... Doesn't Get Mites! from Victoria Gazeley on Vimeo.

So as you can see, if your chickens are confined to a coop and run, and the ground is muddy and/or frozen, you really need to provide them with an alternate way to do their thing.

Some Ideas from Us... and from Readers

Now that our chickens have to spend most of their time in the run, I needed to come up with a new way for them to bathe.  Here's one idea I came across:

Place a box, rubber feed bin or (and this was the best idea I read) a Rubbermaid bin or cat litter box with a lid you can put on when it rains, on the floor of the coop/run (basically, somewhere it will stay dry) and fill it with about 6" or so of a dusting powder made from: 1 part fireplace ashes, 1 part sand and 1 part diatomaceous earth (it also called for road dust, but I'm thinking I don't want my 'organic' birds covering themselves with dust that's laced with vehicle exhaust remains, oil, and other unmentionables. 

Important Tip: If you use diatomaceous earth, make sure it's the 'food grade' version, not the industrial/pool grade, and be careful not to breath it in.  Some readers won't use it because it is a lung irritant, but many, many more use it regularly, apparently with no ill effects if appropriate precautions are taken.  It falls to earth fairly quickly and doesn't hang in the air like dust, but still.  Guess what I'm saying is 'use at your own risk'!  Very effective for mites and lice, etc., though.

Others have expressed concerns about fireplace ash, in that when it gets wet, it becomes quite caustic and will burn the birds' skin.  I asked the people who use ash regularly in dust baths for their birds and they say they've never had an issue with skin burns or other maladies.  Worth trying, I think - but it should go without saying that you should only use ash from wood fires, and not from any garbage burns.  But I'm hoping you aren't burning your garbage.  If you are, stop it!  Please!

Now some other ideas for creating artificial dust baths for your chickens from our friends on our Facebook page:

• "I put the bottom of a litter box with dirt inside for them to roll around in. They enjoy it very much." - Nancy 
• "We use the ashes from our burnt wood and toss it in their pen!" - Robin 
• "Our barn has a packed-dirt floor. Our chickens found a few spots where the dirt was loose and scratched up enough dirt to dust-bathe in. I've heard of people using cat litter pans full of dirt and sand in their coops though." - Cheryl 
• "Some people use a big wash tub or kiddie pool. Put sand in it mixed with dirt and ash. One thing for sure though, add all your wood ash to their bathing area. You will never have mites if they bathe in the ash and they know it." - Lisa 
• "A shoe box with sand and a shoe box with dirt. They love it." - Sharon 
• "Diatomacious earth in a kiddie pool or shallow bin in the coop." - Michelle 

So there you have it - some easy, inexpensive ways to give your coop and run-bound birds the opportunity to carry on some of their natural behaviour when they can't get out to make their own dust baths.  I'll be creating one this week for our girls and will update the post once that's done.

I'm sure we'll know pretty quickly if it passes muster or not.

Do you have other ideas on how to create a dust bath for chickens?  If so, let us know in the comments below!  We'd love to hear your tips.

Nothing says ‘country decor’ more than a vintage cast iron sink.  Except maybe a log cabin.  Or a big pick-up truck.  But nothing says ‘botulism’ or some other sort of nasty bacterial infection more than a vintage cast iron sink that’s been scratched and chipped and generally uncared for to the point where you couldn’t get it clean except with something toxic.

When we moved into our little cabin in the woods, it came with a vintage but less than pristine sink that had been ‘refinished’ with one of those paint on do-it-yourself  kits a number of years previous.  The paint had started to peel and over 3 years of daily use, it didn’t exactly get better.   So while we were building an addition to the cabin, and it was warm enough out that we could open the windows to let the smell of aircraft paint out, the timing was perfect to get it refinished.

As usual, I did a whole bunch of research before we decided on a plan of attack.  In the process, I discovered that you’ve really only got three options to repair a vintage cast iron sink that’s seen better days:

1. Remove it and have it re-enameled professionally.  Pro:  you get a high quality, baked on finish that will last and won’t chip under normal use.  Cons: You’re without your sink for days to weeks, plus you have to have a company local that does this sort work – you don’t want to be shipping a cast iron sink. 
2. Buy one of those paint-on kits and do it yourself.  Pro: inexpensive and your sink stays in place.  Cons:  It’s really difficult to get a smooth finish, you have to prep the surface well beforehand, and the paint will scratch and peel relatively easily. 
3. Replace it with new.  Pro:  You get a brand new sink.  Cons:  Sinks that reflect the same sort of look as a vintage cast iron sink run from $600 and up (based on the research I did at the time).  Even a professionally re-enameled sink starts at about $400 and up, depending on the style.  Ones like ours with a built-in drainboard started at about $650 for a restored vintage version. 
4. Hire a professional to refinish it in place with quality materials.  Pro:  Your sink stays in place (you can use it after about 3 or 4 hours), it costs less than purchasing a similar sink new or refinished, and the finish is of higher quality than the DIY kits. 

We decided on #4.  And am I ever glad we did…

Now, trying to find a sink and tub refinisher in a small town isn’t exactly an easy feat, but we lucked out and found a refinishing pro right here in our little town.  He showed up one Friday morning with all his gear in tow and after about 3 hours and a lot of masking tape, the sink turned out almost like new.

The trick now is how to keep it that way. 

Refinished Cast Iron Sink Care Tips from the Pros

• Get something to protect the bottom of the sink – A silicon mat will work, or do what we did and order these polyethylene dish washing/rinsing bins from Ikea.  Depending on the size and style of your sink, they can work brilliantly to protect your sink surface and save water at the same time. Plus they look nicer than the ones you can buy at the drug store (I did that for awhile – these look much nicer).
• Keep sharp utensils from roughly hitting the surface – A silicone mat will help with this, but the plastic bins work better.  I’ve already taken a chip out of the finish by letting a knife fall hard into the sink.
• Watch the water temperature – If your hot water temperature is excessively hot like ours, you’ll want to make note:  it was advised that we start filling the sink with warm water first and gradually increase the hot, or use bins (which is what we ended up doing).  Like glass or other surfaces, the new painted surface of a refinished cast iron sink can be ‘shocked’ and develop hairline cracks if really hot water is poured suddenly into a cold sink, or vice versa.  And hairline cracks are just the beginning stage of peeling.
• Wash the sink with a soft brush and plain dish soap – Don’t use anything abrasive or caustic or you’ll damage the surface.  If you make sure to rinse the sink out and give it a little scrub with soap and water regularly, it won’t stain and you won’t need abrasives.

And that’s about it!  With a bit of forethought and a lot of care, you can have essentially a brand new sink for much less than new.  And you get to keep that fabulous vintage look in your rural home.

Do you have any other tips to share on caring for a cast iron sink?  If so, let us know in the comments below!

Looking for some practical, sure to be loved gift ideas for the modern homesteaders (or modern homesteader hopefuls), rural living fans, self-sufficiency fans, off-grid dwellers and preppers on your holiday list? Or just looking for practical gifts for your friends and family that will help them get a little closer to a self-reliant lifestyle? Here are a few things I've come across that won't end up in the landfill - and will go on to keep giving and giving throughout the coming year.

My Personal Gift-Giving Criteria

I've been thinking about the environmental and social impacts of my gift-giving for a very long time. Over the years, I've created a mental checklist for any gifts I purchase, not only at Christmas time, but throughout the year. It looks something like this:

1. Is the gift 'fair trade'? Do the people who create is receive fair compensation for their work?
2. Is it made from natural, organic, or recycled materials?
3. If it's not made from natural materials, is it made with recyclability in mind?
4. If it's made from natural materials, is it finished with safe, non-toxic finishes (i.e., beeswax and/or naturally pigmented, non-oil-based paints)?
5. Is it made or supplied locally?
6. Is it recyclable in my community?
7. Is it pre-owned?
8. Is it built to last?
9. Is it a gift of service that isn't a 'thing' that will be thrown away eventually?
10. Will it improve the recipient's life in some way?
11. Is the gift something the person will use a lot?
12. Is the gift something the person will LOVE?

Obviously, some of these things sort of cancel others out (i.e., a Fair Trade gift likely won't be made locally, but both are good criteria to keep in mind). And while the list is a bit long, it does become second nature after awhile. Over the years, I've found these criteria have served me well in picking gifts that are low on the environmental impact scale, high on the 'social impact' scale, AND well received. So where do you find gifts that fit these criteria? Sadly, it's not generally at your local department store. You'll either need to buy from sellers who have done the research for you, OR do the research yourself.

Our Favourite Sources for Gifts for Modern Homesteaders

There are a gazillion places to find gifts for rural living and homesteading, both online and offline. Here are a few ideas of products and suppliers I've found really helpful in my searches for the perfect gift:

For the Self-Sufficiency Fans, Preppers, Off-Grid Dwellers and Modern Homesteaders:

• The Ready Store - One of the biggest resources for all things 'emergency' and preparedness. A gift from here would be appreciated by anyone working on improving their self sufficiency or emergency preparedness.
• GrowVeg Garden Planner - One of the things about intensive gardening and succession planting that has always intimidated me is keeping track of everything, knowing what was planted where when, and remembering what worked and what didn't. GrowVeg to the rescue! This brilliant little online garden planning tool makes it all really easy. With a 30 day free trial and only $25 a year, it's peace of mind for any beginning food gardener who wants to be organized and get the most production from their plot.
• Essential Oils Emergency First Aid Kit - Julie Behling-Hovdal at essentialsurvival.org has put together some brilliant mini essential oil kits for $22.95. These are trial sizes that will allow you to test out essential oils without investing in a more expensive kit right away. So smart, and so useful!!
• Herbmentor.com - A veritable herbal medicine degree in one website! Video tutorials, recipes, forums, podcasts... Highly recommended for those aspiring herbalists on your list.
• Lehman's - Lehman's started as a tiny hardware store employing 3 members of one family and is now the world's largest purveyor of historical technology. They ship old-fashioned, non-electric merchandise all over the world to a diverse customer base of missionaries and doctors working in developing countries, homesteaders and environmentalists living in remote areas, people with unreliable electricity living on islands and mountains, second home owners, hunters, fishers and cabin dwellers, the 'chronically nostalgic,' and even Hollywood set designers looking for historically accurate period pieces. The owner's goal was, and still is, to provide authentic, historical products to those seeking a simpler life. It's like a candy store for anyone who wants to reduce their reliance on electric appliances! I personally use the Pressure Handwasher (works great, but I concur with the reviewers on the site), and the Lehman's wringer (the person who wrote the one review there clearly doesn't know how to set up a hand wringer, because when secured properly, it works quite well). I've purchased a number of items from Lehman's over the last couple of years and have always been really happy with the customer service. For some nostalgic fun, check out the non-electric lighting options, hand cranked items, and non-powered laundry appliances! If you're at all interested in being even a little more self-sufficient, you could seriously spend hours poking around this website. It's my one stop shop for all things 'homesteading'.
• Lee Valley Tools - All sorts of fun stuff for gardeners and woodworkers on your list.
• Homesteader's Supply - HUGE variety of rural living products, from canning supplies to milk tools, to grain mills.
• Real Goods - I remember the 'old' Real Goods catalog, which returned in the 1990s after disappearing during the excesses of the 1980s. This is the granddaddy (or grandmommy!) of all 'green gifts' catalogs. EVERYTHING you could imagine for the 'off-grid' home - from recycled door mats (in use at our cold storage door) and non-electric woodstove fans (currently whirring away on top of our woodstove), to composting toilets, tankless water heaters, and decor items, they've got it all. Maybe not the most romantic of Christmas presents, but there's nothing romantic about huge electric and water bills!
• Etsy - Etsy is a treasure trove of hand-made eco-gift items that will fit absolutely anyone on your gift list. Gorgeous clothing, stunning, one-of-a-kind jewellery, decor items and whimsical bits and pieces that might be useless, but would look awesome in your loved one's home! You'll find a large percentage of the items on Etsy are 'green' - recycled materials, natural materials, hand made in North America... Plan to spend at least an hour (or two or three) looking around! And if you're a DIY-er, you'll find no shortage of ideas for gifts you can make yourself. Let your imagination run wild!
• Rawganique - Organic cotton and hemp clothing and gorgeous organic home decor, bedding and linens. I've ordered from Rawganique many, many times over the last few years and love their products and customer service.

For the Children on Your List:

• For a ton of ideas for quality, planet-conscious gift ideas, look no further than Green Child Magazine.
• N atural Pod - Located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Natural Pod has a lovely inventory or gorgeous children's toys, craft items and games. The owners are wonderful people and stand behind their products - natural materials, safe finishes, and lots of 'made in North America' items. No plastic in sight!
• Bella Luna Toys - Bella Luna Toys is a beautiful place to purchase quality, natural-material gifts for the children on your list. The toys are inspired by Waldorf education, and invite open-ended play that nurtures a child's imagination. Bella Luna is "committed to offering unique natural toys and products for children and families that are safe, healthy and encourage imaginative play. You will find no battery-operated or plastic toys here, the kind that will be played with for a short time before ending up in a landfill." 
• Family Pastimes - Family Pastimes designs and manufactures cooperative games (all made in Canada). We've got a number of them for various ages and have enjoyed them immensely. Great for those nights when the power is out and you're gathered together around the table in a rare moment without all our modern distractions. Lots of fun, and foster teamwork at the same time.
• Simply Merino - Simply Merino offers beautiful, quality merino wool clothing for children. So much better for them than synthetics or pesticide laden cotton.

Ideas from Our Facebook Friends:

We asked the gang on our Facebook page what sorts of things they would appreciate for Christmas - here's what they said (straight from the source!):

• Fruit or nut trees - Maybe heritage varieties that do well in your local area?
• Volunteer to help on their property for a day.
• Seeds - Non-GMO, organic and if possible and suitable, heirloom.
• Rain barrel or water collection system.
• Food dehydrator (the Excalibur is well rated by users).
• Rural living, homesteading or preparedness books and magazines - Search on Amazon, then purchase from your local bookstore.
• Alternative energy supplies - If your budget is larger, ideas like small wind turbines or alternate power generators.
• Mushroom spawn, spores and/or plugs for culinary mushrooms: Mushbox, The Mushroom Man, or Out-Grow are just a few (keep in mind there are 'other' types of mushroom kits out there - make sure you're seeking out the culinary ones).
• Canning jars, or lids and rings. Use of equipment - If you own heavy equipment, the offer of their use for big projects you know your recipient needs completed.
• Seed Saver Exchange membership.
• Mini Green house.
• Worm bin.
• O'Keeffe's "Working Hands" cream.
• Make/buy a solar oven.
• Foxfire books.
• Wood burning stove
• Lee Valley Tools nail brush - Amazing for hands, produce - one of our readers keeps one at every sink in the house!
• Composting bin.
• Hand made gifts - useful or decorative or food items.
• Cold frames.
• Bring them breakfast and take on their morning feed/milk chores while they enjoy the oddity of no morning feed/milking.
• Good advice in the form of small notes like recipes.
• Land!
• Home made coupons for helping do the work around their property: e.g., "Good for one flower bed weeding, one cleaning up the coop, one bringing the fire wood in, taking care of the critters one morning or evening, etc.
• Good company, great conversation, shared food and shared work.
• Gift cards to homesteading supply or hardware stores.
• Tools and technical books.
• A big coffee mug with different kinds of organic or locally grown tea packets.
• Warm socks, wool sweaters, warm work gloves.
• Pressure cooker/canner.
• Hand powered appliances, like slicers, grain mills, etc.
• A medicinal/preparedness goodie basket.
• Solar chargers for phones, radios and appliances.

Some Other Ideas:

• Spa gift certificates (for men too!) - Because rural living is hard on the hands and skin! 
• Subscriptions to a local nature conservancy, wildlife agency or favourite magazine.
• Knitting or crafting lessons - Skills that always come in handy on the homestead. 
• Music or dance classes.
• Membership to a local CSA (community shared agriculture), tool sharing group, local food group, etc.
• Concert tickets.
• Conference tickets to see a favourite guru or meet with fellow rural living fans.
• A weekend away at a fancy B&B (with an offer to look after the livestock!) 
• Get a website designed for someone with a gift to share with the world.
• Use your imagination!

Gift giving for the self-sufficiency or 'green' set doesn't have to be boring - or difficult! And it can change a life if you pick the right one (think about how you can fulfill someone's dream, even in a small way). The ideas and resources listed here will set you on your way - the only danger is that you'll get so engrossed in all the options that you won't order in time for Christmas... ;o) Do you have other ideas for those rural dwellers/modern homesteaders/homesteading dreamers on your list? Please share them in the comments below! You might just inspire someone to change a life...

“Come see what I built!”

It was an invitation from my then almost-9-year-old son to visit the space he had built for himself to ‘get away from it all’.   He led me carefully through one of the many patches of undergrowth near our little cabin, thick with salmon berries just starting to bud with bright green leaves (and sticky thorns).  Then we came upon it – a tiny little hut, built with intricate layers of windfall branches and ferns, its entrance hidden by a particularly dense spray of hemlock.

“It’s where I can lie and listen to the sounds of the forest, and the songs of the birds.”

And right then I knew my decision to leave our city life behind was the right one.

Our Journey from Subdivision to Townhouse to Log Cabin in the Woods

I always thought I'd move out of the city when I children joined my life.  I just didn't realize what a huge difference it would make to my son - or myself.

I grew up in a rural community – in a subdivision, mind you, but in a district where only 20,000 people lived along a narrow strip of land stretching 70 miles along the rocky coast.  Bears visited our backyard regularly, and we spent our weekends in the mountains, exploring abandoned logging camps and old First Nations villages, hiking to extinct volcanic craters, and riding dirt bikes in the empty lots down the street.  We learned all the native edible and medicinal plants, the names of all the trees towering above, and which wild birds like which sorts of native berries.  We fished, rode motorbikes, and got dirty.  In other words, we spent most of our waking hours outside.

When my son was born in 2003 and we ended up in a townhouse on a busy road in the city, all those amazing childhood experiences came flooding back - and I realized, sadly, that his life was going to be very different.  His school days would be interrupted by sirens and construction projects, he'd have to sidestep doggy doo (and other nasties) every time he went for a walk in the forest, and he'd never really know the joys of silence.  For his own memories' sake, I wanted him to know a summer day where all you can hear is crickets, the rustling of the wind in dry, tall grass, and the distant hum of a float plane buzzing to some far flung island.  The chance of experiencing any of that living in a townhouse?  Nada.

I loved so many things about our city, nestled between sea and mountain, but getting my little guy out into 'nature' was an more of an effort than I was able to pull off most days.  During my maternity leave, we'd hop on the bus and spend our days in the forest (with him on my back in a carrier) but once I went back to work, there just never seemed to be enough time.  Moving closer to the nature was out of the question - real estate in our part of the world is crazy at best - the average home price at the time was somewhere around $800K.  Decent townhouses closer to the forest on a quiet street?  About $600K.  So it was either noisy townhouse or the alternative - moving - and  I struggled with it every single day.

It was when he got a little older and I'd find him entranced by the comings and goings of ants and wood bugs that I decided that this child was born to be in the country.  He just oozed it.  His first word wasn't 'cat' or 'juice', but 'moon'.  So I started planning for a very different life... a life somewhere quieter where he could become who he was meant to be, without distraction.

Now, we could have moved anywhere, but it was important that my guy be close to his grandparents.  In other words, our choice was pretty simple - we moved back to my hometown, only a 40 minute ferry ride, but what felt like a world, away.  It was 2008, and I had no idea how I was going to make it work, but I'd been building my skill set for years and studying everything I could get my hands on that had anything to do with rural living, homesteading and the transition from city to country living.  Was I terrified?  Um... yeah.  But terror slowly turned to 'I can do this!', and we never looked back.

So here we are, just over 4 years later, well ensconced into a new/old life in the forest.  My son attends a Waldorf School surrounded by trees and streams, and right across a quiet country road from the beach.  He gets to see his grandparents pretty much every day - something I never experienced in my own childhood - and spends his non-school time listening to the wind in the trees, collecting and studying bugs and other critters, and communing with our flock of 20 chickens (17 hens and three roosters, to be exact).  And now that we've been here awhile, the benefits of the move are becoming clearer every single day.

The Benefits

First off, please know that I'm no child development expert and I can't tell you conclusively that living in the country is any 'better' than living in the city, as they both clearly have their pros and cons, but there are a few things I've observed over the past 4 years that I think are worth noting:

1. Room to Run – This one goes without saying.  Children need to move and run and stretch their limbs in order for their physical and mental capacities to develop in a healthy way, and that's pretty difficult in a 1000 square foot apartment with a tiny rooftop deck.  They don't need a lot of space, but the simple joy of being able to move freely when the impulse strikes is a real treat to watch.  If my son wants to run across the yard on all fours, he can do that - without crashing into anything or stepping into anyone else's space (but chicken poop, maybe).
2. Quiet for the Imagination – A big reason why we decided on Waldorf Education, and moved to a rural community, was this - the preservation, and development of, my child's imagination.  Not that imagination can't develop in the city, of course - some of our most brilliant people were raised in urban environments - but there's something about quiet, being in nature, that just invites creative thinking and problem-solving, especially for children who are sensitive.  With the challenges we're facing in the world, we need creative people, unencumbered by rigid or stunted thought processes and the distraction of 24/7 noise.
3. Exposure to the Natural World – As you know, our planet is in somewhat of a crisis on the environmental front.  Species extinctions, systemic pollution, habitat loss... our children need to be connected to the natural world now more than ever.  If they don't feel like they're a part of the world around them, how can we expect them to care about it?  So your child spending quiet, extended time in nature benefits us all, and will for generations.  I simply can't see how my son would care anywhere near as much about the creatures of the world and its natural systems as he does if he didn't get to see and feel and touch them every day.
4. No Billboards or In-Your-Face Marketing - This one is HUGE for me - there simply isn't anywhere near the bombardment of visual marketing as there is in the city, where every surface is covered with images talking our children into 'needing' things they don't really need at all, and doing things they really have no business doing.  Think about the effects of mainstream media and marketing on children, and then imagine what it would be like to not have that in your child's face every day.  It's liberating, and so much better because kids are left alone to be just that - kids.
5. Time to be Together – I'm blessed to work from home, and I'm incredibly busy with my business, but I'm able to spend a lot more time with my son than I did when we lived in the city and I worked in an office, mostly by nature of the fact that we aren't spending hours in traffic every day, nor are we signed up for umpteen lessons and activities.  It's been incredibly freeing, and rewarding, to be able to spend time with him - even when I'm working and serving clients and he's just hanging out with the chickens or drawing pictures of trolls and eagles.  Child development expert Gordon Neufeld talks extensively about the importance of children being 'attached' to their caregivers and not their peers - it's much easier to do this when you can actually spend a lot of time together.

Of course, as with anything worth exploring, there are downsides, but in our experience, the great things that have come from our move out of the city far outweigh the negatives, which are, well, pretty much non-existent.  Sure sometimes it's a struggle to get everything done, the power goes out a lot, and we don't have any neighbours at all, let alone with children, so spontaneous play with other kids is sort of out of the question, but even with all that, I can't imagine living anywhere else.  I'll let Jonah wrap it up:  Why I Like Living in the Country

Are you planning a move to the country with your children?  Do you have any concerns or worries?  If so, leave us a comment on the blog or on Facebook to hear from others who've made the move and are loving it... it's a super supportive group and we love sharing what we've learned.  See you there!

That first little 'peep peep' from under the wing of your favorite hen, a chick the hen hatched, is something you'll never forget.

That sweet little face is the culmination of the hours and days and weeks that you've put into raising your backyard flock.  In our case, my son strangely knew exactly which of our 14 girls would be the first broody hen - it would be Lucky Wattles, he said, and he would name the first baby 'Pip'.  And so it was.

The Benefit of Broody Mamas

I wasn't sure I wanted to raise chicks this year.  Our hens are only slightly more than a year old and because they're pretty happy and healthy, we've likely got another year or so before their egg production begins to drop off (or so all the books say).  So when suddenly it was May and my son asked if we were still going to raise a small batch of chicks this year, I cringed a little.  No, a lot.  Not only do we not have room for a big brooder, but the idea of having to deal with thermometers and washing water founts every day made me want to run back to the city.  Well, not really, but you get the picture.

Now, conveniently, we had two hens go 'broody' right around that time.  I have to admit that I didn't do a lot of research - it was one of my rare 'dive right in' moments.  We stopped collecting eggs for a couple of days, crossed our fingers that some of them were fertilized courtesy of our big Buff Orpington rooster, and hoped for the best.

21 days later, we had our first chick.  A day later, another 2 sweet little fluffballs.  All tolled, we ended up with 6 live chicks from 14 eggs between the two hens - 2 babies died when their eggs were broken before they were ready to hatch, and the rest either didn't develop fully or weren't fertilized in the first place.

And now, 11 days post- the first hatch, everyone is doing great and we're well on our way to revitalizing our flock with new egg layer for next year.  That is if they're all hens, of course.

Lessons Learned

To say this has been an adventure is an understatement.  There are things I should have known before we started (like the challenges of having two mama hens with chicks in the same flock), and things I'm glad I didn't know (like the fact we'd find dead pre-hatchlings in the nest).  Mostly, it's been a great experience (my son loves it), but it's also been a lot of work.

Here are a few things to keep in mind if you decide to give your broody hens the opportunity to do what hens are meant to do.  It's not an exhaustive list, and I'm not an expert, but it's a good place to start!

1. Separate the Hen(s) - In the days leading up to the eggs hatching, I asked experienced chicken raisers on our Modern Homesteading Facebook page what their best advice was regarding separating the broody hens from the rest of the flock.  As is always the case, we got a lot of different opinions.  What I learned was this: there is no one-size fits all solution.  What will work for you will depend on a number of things: the breed and size of your flock, the temperament of your birds, the size of your chicken house, your nest box set-up, how much time you have to keep an eye on your new additions, and so many other little details.  But in our case, I should have separated the hens when they started sitting on their egg clutches - not after the babies hatched.  What happened was that some of the other hens were hopping into the broody hens' nesting spots and depositing their eggs, which at first added more eggs to the clutch than I originally wanted (hence why we had two hens incubating the eggs - I couldn't tell which ones were the originals and which ones had been recently deposited), and necessitated me marking each of the 'sitting eggs' with an X.  Then when the babies started hatching, we lost a couple, I'm assuming due to other hens stepping around in the nest boxes in a way nowhere near as carefully as the broody mamas and cracking the egg shells before the chicks were ready to hatch.  I tried to keep them safe with chicken wire set up around those two nest boxes (with water and food there for the mamas), but it didn't work very well.  In the end, after the babies hatched, I set up one of those folding dog fences on the floor of the coop, configured into two compartments -  one for each new little family.  Unfortunately, that didn't work so well either, as the two hens were at each other through the wire fencing, knocking over their food and water in the process and stepping on the chicks.  The set up now is one pen using the dog fencing for one family, and a large dog crate for the other, complete with food and water.  Everyone seems happier (myself included).
2. Smaller Clutches are Better than Large - Our Lucky Wattles started out sitting on 14 eggs.  That's WAY too much for a tiny little hen.  So instead of disposing of eggs, we moved 6 over to the other broody hen, Miss Snooty Pants (yes, we called her that for good reason), and hoped for the best.  Next time, we'll make sure to only allow a certain number of eggs in each clutch (I'm thinking 8 is a good number) - it increases the chances of successful incubation and I assume is much less stressful for the mama.
3. Mama Hens Know What They're Doing - Compared to the constant diligence required when brooding chicks without a hen (or even more so, when incubating eggs in an incubator), letting hens look after eggs and chicks is a breeze.  There's no need for thermometers or brooding lamps (unless it's really cold), or showing the chicks where the water is - mama hen does all that and more.  Ours have been out free-ranging with their mamas since about Day 4 and it's fascinating to watch her show them what's edible, what's not, where the water is, and keeping them warm.  Bottom line?  Mama definitely does know best.
4. Other Hens Can Be Nasty - I was warned (thanks Facebook friends!) that part of the reason for separating the  mamas and babies from the rest of the flock is because other hens can be brutal with chicks, even killing them.  Since I didn't really want that, I made an effort to keep them all separate.  But other people say that they just let the mamas defend the babies right from day one.  I'm not quite ready to risk a dead chick - not after all the work I've put into them - so I'll be waiting til the chicks are older, wiser, and bigger and can fend for themselves a bit.
5. You Don't Necessarily Need Special Food - We're feeding non-medicated chick starter and free-ranging somewhat, but I've heard from a number of people that they have their chicks out free-ranging with the mama hen right from day 1 and don't use chick starter or any grit.  You'll need to assess how much food is available for them while free-ranging to determine if there's 'enough' for their quickly growing bodies.  As for me, I'd rather be safe than sorry and will continue to offer both to our 6 little cuties.  Note:chicks apparently can not eat layer mash, so it's important to ensure they don't have access to it.  Formulations for laying hens contain far too much in the way of minerals (calcium in particular) for chicks, so if you're not free ranging your babies or making your own feed, you'll need chick starter (preferably as 'natural' as possible, ideally 'organic', and if not, then at least non-GMO - it does exist).  Here's a relatively updated list of organic chicken feeds in the US and Canada:  Organic Chicken Feed Suppliers.

We've learned so much more than this, but these 5 points stick out as important for the first week or two.  We'll definitely keep you posted as things progress...

One of our Facebook friends said that there's nothing cuter than a mama hen out with her babies, showing them the world and clucking softly.  Now that I've experienced it first-hand and spent a lot of time out in the rain observing our new little 'families', I'd have to say I couldn't agree more.

Have you ever raised chicks with a hen doing most of the work?  Is there anything I missed in this article that you think would be important for new chicken raisers to know?  Are you new to this gig and have questions about hens raising chicks?  If so, share it in the comments below!  We'd love to hear your experiences!

If you can count on me for anything, it's to give you the straight goods on country living.   No fluff.

You're not going to find me waxing poetic about how la-de-da wonderful everything is every moment of every day - especially when it comes to the real benefits and challenges of living in the country.

Let me kick this off by making it super clear that I LOVE living in the woods.  I've been back here for 3-and-a-half years (after growing up in the area many moons ago), and I can honestly say that (at this point anyway) I never want to live in the city again.  Visit, for sure.  But to live full-time?  Absolutely not. 

But I can't help but feel for people who are seduced by books and articles and sometimes friends and acquaintances painting a ridiculously rosy picture of the rural life.  I'm sure we've all heard the stories of the city-dwellers who packed up everything and moved to the country, assuming they'd done their research, only to find they couldn't make friends, hated the neighbor's wayward cows, and spent too many hours commuting to their jobs, completely blowing their new found 'quality of life' right out of the water.

So today, I wanted to get my own list of challenges of rural living down 'on paper' (pros/benefits to follow in my next post).  If it helps even one person considering a move from the city to ensure their decision is the right one for them, I'll be happy!  Country living is amazing, but it's definitely not for everyone.  I definitely don't have all the answers - far from it - and I've made a very LONG list of my own mistakes.  That said, I hope this helps:

The Cons/Challenges/Drawbacks to Living in a Rural Community

This list is really hard for me to write, because I don't want to sound ungrateful (or like I know it all - I SO don't), but the truth is that for many folks used to city living, country living is a really foreign thing.  Very foreign!  Sometimes so foreign it drives them more than a little bonkers - or leaves them in tears.  Or divorced.

So without further ado, here are a few things I've found personally, and heard from others, about the things they found most challenging the first year or two after moving from city to country:

1. Feeling like part of a community - Social circles in many small communities can be notoriously hard to break into.  I've met a lot of people who have moved to our community from the city who have said it was really challenging to make friends here.  The 'old-timers' can be suspicious of newcomers (sometimes with good reason), and a small group of recent transplants want to pull up the drawbridge behind them, shooting resentful rhetoric and angry glances to anyone who moves in after them.  I've also heard this is one of the big fears of many considering moving to a rural community.  The best way to get through this?  Volunteer.  Once you're settled, get out there and start donating a portion of your time and services to local social agencies, your children's school, or a food security group.  There's no better way to show you want to be part of a community than getting involved.
2. Getting used to the quiet - and the new sounds - If you've lived in the city for any amount of time, and especially if you've never lived anywhere else, the relative quiet of the country can be enough to make you want to break out the white noise machine.  Say what you want about loud conversations and honking horns, but there's something reassuring about knowing there are other people about.  Those first few nights are going to be painful - don't count on sleeping much.  I spent my first few weeks here in a very sleep-deprived state thanks to all the unfamiliar thumps, bumps and 'woos' out in the black woods.  There's really no way to avoid this - your city nervous system will need some time to mellow out.  And mellow out it will!  Eventually, you'll be able to relax and enjoy the peace.
3. Not being able to sleep in anymore (or go away for the weekend) once you have livestock - I have to be honest and say that this one kept us from adding chickens to our little homestead sooner than we did.  The idea of having to find someone to care for them every time we wanted to go away for more than a few hours sort of put the kaibosh on my self-reliance plans for awhile.  But then we found a solution - co-parenting!  I guess you could call it co-op livestock.  We found friends who wanted to share in the cost and responsibility and voila, we were egg farmers!  OK, it wasn't quite that easy, but knowing we've got built-in chicken sitters made the decision a whole lot easier.  My parents also help out since my Dad's sawmill is just down the road from us and he's there pretty much every day.  We all share in the eggs, and sell the excess to pay for the feed.  Win-win all around.  Now if we were talking cows or goats, the story  might be different, but I can't see why it wouldn't work with the right mix of people and critters.
4. Distance from medical facilities - This is something a lot of people don't think about.  Unless you're a master herbalist, aromatherapist, paramedic, doctor or trained in the military (or maybe even if you are), you're likely going to need a doctor every once in awhile.  And if you've got children, elderly parents, or a medical condition that requires regular care, you'll want to ensure you have access to appropriate medical facilities.  Every day I read about people complaining about lack of medical facilities in the communities they've recently moved to.  This is something you'll absolutely want to check out ahead of time.
5. Much reduced entertainment opportunities - We're so lucky - we're close enough to the city to have world-class musicians, theatre and other arts performances make their way across the water to play here.  We've even got a number of the super famous who actually live in our communities (not that we see them often - they come here to get away from their flocks of admirers... it's a great place for that, disappearing).  We've got two movie theatres (in two different communities), a couple of video rental places (because the internet speed can be far too slow - or throttled - to watch streaming video), poetry readings, dances, art shows, galleries, sports teams, studios, top-notch restaurants - there's no shortage of things to do.  I remember when we first arrived, thinking, "What on earth are we going to do here?"  But that's never, ever been a problem.  Smaller communities may not have the huge variety of opportunities, but even the tiniest town has dances and social events, touring musicians and farmers' markets.  And if there is nothing - there's your opportunity to start something!
6. Bugs - I lived in the city for 22 years.  And in that time, I forgot what mosquitoes were.  There just weren't any buzzing around the townhouse.  And then I came back here.  Holy moly, those suckers are big!  And they're nothing here compared to some parts of the country.  What does this mean?  We can't eat dinner outside in summer without a screen tent - or some sort of bug zapper that we haven't yet invested in.  Great for the chickens and bats, not so great for our social life.  Good thing we've got our essential oils now to ward of the blood sucking beasts!
7. Power outages - It goes without saying that country life means power outages.  More trees means more potential for downed or shorted out lines.  And less population means fewer available staff, and let's face it, lower priority, when a big storm blows through the region.  You can plan for this with alternate power and/or light and heat sources, emergency food stores, and knowing what parts of the area are less likely to experience power outages.  Here, we just happen to be on the trunk that goes out every time the wind blows.  And no, I didn't check that out before we moved.  Wish I would have!
8. Fending off wildlife - Some areas have more of an issue with this than others, but most rural homesteads will experience run-ins with wildlife.  Add livestock, and the ante is upped.  Here we have birds of prey (hawks, mostly), black bear, coyotes, weasels, mountain lion and apparently wolves moving back into their historic ranges.  Then there are the marauding elk, and the deer (which all of the other predators are feeding on), and the smaller critters like mice and squirrels that can do incredible damage if left unchecked.  My own feeling on this is that the wildlife has as much right to be here as we do, and that my plunking ourselves down in amongst them, with yummy-smelling livestock penned and fenced and sitting 'ducks', and warm homes for the smaller creatures to nest in, we're taking on a huge responsibility to keep everyone safe.  I know a lot of people will just shoot any predator or pest on their property, rather than work through deterrence programs and securing their livestock properly.  I know it won't make me popular to say this, but when you put your family and livestock on a rural property, it's your job to keep everyone safe - and that includes the indigenous creatures (unless they are creatures you can add to your food stores, of course - that's different...).  If you keep finding wild snakes in your henhouse, it's time to secure the henhouse, not keep shooting the snakes.  Native snakes have an important place in the ecology of your local area.  Just sayin'...
9. Lack of rural living skills - I think it's pretty clear that if you can't split firewood, have a black thumb, or have trouble dispatching a chicken if it's mortally injured or on it's last legs, then homesteading can prove pretty challenging.  I say this as someone who still has very few rural living skills, at least compared to someone who has been doing this for years.  Sure I can split shakes, pile firewood, wash clothes without electricity, know the habits of our local predators and am taking a Permaculture Design Course - but there's so, so much to learn!  I haven't yet had to dispatch a chicken (the coyote did that for me, unplanned, of course), and I've yet to put away a full winter's worth of food in a root cellar, but I fully intend to learn how - and soon.  But let's not despair and think it all hopeless - the great news is that there are literally thousands of books, magazines, YouTube videos and websites devoted to exactly this - teaching rural living skills to newbies.  I've had the pleasure of experiencing many of them, and I know will be connecting with many more.  But the best teacher, I have to say, is experience.  We just need to get out there and do it, no matter how freaky it is to our urban sensibilities.
10. Making a living - When I talk to prospective 'modern homesteaders', this is the challenge that comes up most often.  How to do it and not starve.  Or without having to give up some of our favorite things.  Personally, I've been able to do this in a way that works for us (though I'm still working out the kinks), putting my corporate experience to work in my own web and design business, run via satellite internet from my little cabin in the woods.  Others have one partner commuting to a 'regular' job while the other gets the homestead under way.  The key here is to be open to new ideas, take an inventory of your skills, and continually invest in your future.  If you choose to start your own business, get an experienced mentor, try to do it without too much (or any) debt, but most of all - set the fear aside and go for it!

The Wrap-up

Moving to the country is a huge step on the way to a more self-reliant life.  And it's absolutely not for everyone.  But those of us with 'the bug', it's a dream we just can't shake.  With this list, we can make sure we've poked and prodded the decision from every angle, so we know in our hearts it's the right one when we do put that down payment on that dream property.

Next time we'll get to the good stuff - the benefits of rural living!

Did we miss any challenges?  Do you know anyone who moved to the country but just couldn't take it?  We'd love to hear your stories in the comments below - your experiences might just help someone avoid a HUGE mistake!  Or better yet, encourage them to finally make the move...

Adding a cockerel (rooster) to your existing flock of hens is one of those things where you'll find almost as many different opinions as there are chicken breeds!  It's a passionate subject, and one that I had the opportunity to delve into recently.

In the fall of 2010, a post came across our local Freecycle group looking for a home for a beautiful young Buff Orpington rooster.  He'd been part of a larger flock that included a number of roosters, most of whom had ended up in the stew pot - save for this guy, and his infinitely more aggressive coop-mate.  At the time, I seriously considered bringing him home, to the point of contacting the owner and making arrangements to go out for an introduction.

But things just didn't gel and we never did make it out to the farm to see him. 

Then a couple of months later, the post came over Freecycle again.  He was still looking for a home.  And my research background kicked into high gear.

I spent an entire day, maybe two, researching rooster behaviour, flock behaviour and the best way to introduce a rooster to an existing group of hens.  Visited probably 20 different websites and forums - all with really valid and experienced advice on the best way to accomplish the task successfully (and safely for all involved).  But the best wisdom came from our Facebook page - I can't thank everyone there enough!  (If you haven't had a chance to join us there, do!  We've got a fantastic group of people from all walks of life and stages of 'self-sufficiency' - newbies, will-be's, and incredibly experienced folk: facebook.com/modernhomesteading).

After a number of questions and a lot of reading, we decided to take the plunge. 

I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't a bit nervous.  In my research, I'd come across some horror stories of roosters who were way too aggressive for the hens, and hens that literally 'hen-pecked' their new gentleman caller til he had to be removed to save his life.  Life with chickens isn't always pretty.  But I decided to swallow that fear and take the plunge into the world of roosters and having an intact flock of birds living as nature intended.  Well, sort of like nature intended - as much as can be realistically recreated in a backyard type arrangement.

Why Have a Rooster?

There are numerous reasons to have a rooster as part of your flock.  Some people thought we were crazy for wanting to bring a rooster on board, and many others were excited for us as we took this further step towards 'self-reliance'. 

These are the reasons we wanted a rooster: 

1. After losing a hen to a coyote because she wandered far away from the flock, we thought having a rooster to keep the girls 'rounded up' would be advantageous.
2. A good rooster will apparently throw himself between the hens and a predator, essentially sacrificing himself for the good of the flock.  Not that I want to sacrifice our gorgeous guy, but hens are a big time and sometimes financial investment - losing just one is a big deal (at least to me).  And roosters are just tougher, generally speaking.
3. Once a good rooster is present, the hens can settle into more of a relaxed state because they no longer have to be hyper-vigilant about keeping an eye out for predators.  They've got someone else to do that job now.  Not that we want them to get totally complacent, but having them not beating each other up on a regular basis was a definite plus in our eyes.
4. We plan to renew our flock with a few new chicks every year - this way, the flock becomes self-sustaining to a degree.  I do need to do more research in this regard as to how the genetics work after the first year (we're still new at this), but for 2012, we now have that capacity.
5. There's just something about a rooster on a homestead.  Many people can't stand the sound of a rooster's crowing, but I love it.  (Yes, even at 4:30 a.m.)

How We Did It

Now, after assessing all the pros and cons and determining our reasons for wanting a rooster were valid and reasonable, here are the steps we took to introduce our 'Tom Wattles' successfully to our girls:

1. Determine a Good Fit:  First off, the rooster in question had to be a good fit for our existing flock of hens - and for our family.  In this case, we knew he wasn't overly aggressive (he'd lost the battle with is coop-mate), had a gentle disposition, and was slightly older than our 14 hens (they were 7 months at the time, he was 9).  I'd read that younger roosters can be ripped to shreds if introduced to older hens, especially if the rooster is on the docile end of the spectrum, so it was important to me that any rooster we brought into the flock was able to hold his own and exert dominance without being overly aggressive).  The breed mattered as well - Buff Orpingtons are known as a more 'personable' breed, so that fed into our decision as well, as my son does a lot of our chicken care, and it was important to me that the rooster was gentle and not aggressive to children especially, but to humans in general.  Also, when we visited him at his original home, it was clear he was well cared for and healthy.  We were able to get a full history on his health and behaviour, which allowed us to determine if he was a good fit.  We decided he was perfect!
2. The First Night:  We brought him home that first day in a big cardboard box in the back seat of the car.  The whole process was pretty calm.  He was super gentle and allowed my son to collect him out of the box to transfer him to his temporary quarantine pen inside my son's 'fort'.  We provided him with a bit of scratch and a dish of water, as well as a towel covering up the tarp we'd put on the floor.  Not ideal, probably, but he was safe for his first night with us.  Hearing him crow that next morning was so wonderful!
3. Quarantine:  In my research, I'd read many experienced people making it very clear that quarantine of new birds was absolutely essential.  The advice went from 72 hours to assess disease to 30 days of isolation from the existing flock.  We decided on something to the lower end of the scale, mostly because we didn't have a secure 'extra' coop to house him in for 30 days.  He stayed in my son's fort (the only other place on the property that is secure from weasels) for 5 nights, and was moved to our portable run during the day.  We located the portable run about 50 feet from the coop and run where the girls were and they spent 5 days eyeballing each other across the lawn... or rather what's left of the lawn now that the chickens have had their way with it for the last few months!  This went really well, even through a coyote ambush where our new guy got his first taste of life in our little hollow - including a few lost tail feathers.  He definitely knows what to look for now! 
4. Checking for Disease and/or Mites:  The quarantine period allows us to watch our new bird for any signs of illness - runny 'nose', sneezing, droopiness, etc., as well as checking him for mites.  I was pretty sure he didn't have any of these things, but I'm glad we took that time.  Some more cautious chicken-raisers warned that some illnesses don't show up in a few days, but rather a few weeks - and that anything less than a 30 day quarantine is asking for trouble.  This may absolutely be true in many cases.  But in our case, we visited the flock that this guy came from, and I trusted the owners when they said that the flock was not ill and had not been ill and showed no signs of illness of any kind.  Sure, some illnesses don't show signs right away, but their birds aren't located near any other flocks, and while yes, I'm sure there was a chance of something 'getting through', I was comfortable in what my research had turned up and in our decision.  So we watched him closely, gave him two dust baths with diatomaceous earth (which was a bit of a challenge, but I think it worked), and planned the big introduction.
5. Introductions:  On Day 6, we decided it was time to get these birds all together.  So on the advice of numerous experts, we waited til nightfall, carried 'Tom' into the coop when all the girls had taken to their roosts for the night, and popped him up on a roost by himself (across from the others).  Then we waited.  It was fascinating - first of all, he looked a bit flummoxed by the whole thing, like he couldn't believe his good fortune... all those girls!! (Yes, I'm anthropomorphizing, but it's hard not to).  Then came all the calls and sounds we'd never heard the hens make.  After 10 minutes or so, we locked up the coop for the night and crossed our fingers that when we came out in the morning, we wouldn't find a rooster massacre.
6. Monitoring:  The next morning it was like he had never not been there - just like everyone said would be the case.  We monitored them over the next few days, ensuring there wasn't going to be any bloodletting by the hens, but everything was pretty sedate - save for the first day when one of the hens decided she wasn't having anything to do with him, and expressed her displeasure by taking a swipe at his comb and wattles (to the point of blood - it was a bit of a mess... but we cleaned him up and all was well).  We watched the dominant hens settle down into a new, more relaxed state (there was less fighting among them and less picking on the lower-level hens), and all seemed well.  We did this for 4 days to allow for the rooster to get used to the idea that the coop and run was 'home', and to cement his role as the dominant member of the flock.  And then we let them out to range late one afternoon

It was quite the process, and I'm grateful to everyone who shared their expertise on the subject.  Here's a video of them all together that first day:

Episode 43 - Our Rooster's First Day with His New Flock from Victoria Gazeley on Vimeo.

The Wrap-Up

Now, three weeks later, we've seen that Tom is quite the gentleman, collecting food for his first harem and proudly caring for them when they're free ranging.  He's not overly aggressive when it comes to mating, and seems to have settled into his role as the protector of the flock.  All in all, a great experience!  If we hadn't done our research, the outcome could have been very different.  You can check out our chicken videos for updates about Tom Wattles and his girls...

Have you ever introduced a rooster to an existing flock of chickens?  How did it go?  We'd love to hear any advice you have to share in the comments below.

It's getting cold here.  The ground is rock solid frozen and we've gone full into 'winter mode'.  Now that we've got livestock (chickens), it adds a whole new dimension to preparing our rural property to keep everyone (and everything) safe and secure through the chilly months.  But it's not just in the winter when things can go wrong.

When you live on a rural property, there are a lot of situations that can put you and your family at risk of injury - or even death.  A pretty dark topic, I know.  But it's my mission to provide information that will really make a positive difference as you make the transition to a rural lifestyle, and sometimes the discussion gets downright serious.  It has to to keep everyone safe.

All that said, most dangerous situations on your journey to the rural life can be avoided, or at least mitigated, by choosing the 'right' property to purchase or rent in the first place.  Here are five things to seriously consider, and questions to ask and analyze, before you purchase a property down by that gorgeous river, or decide on a rental home in the mountains:

Emergency Services

1. Do you have a medical condition that requires regular care?  Obviously if this is the case you'll need to have medical facilities close by.  In the event of any sort of major widespread emergency, it's pretty much guaranteed that larger centers would be priority for getting back up and running quickly.  As it is, many rural health facilities are sort of hanging by a thread, or find it difficult to staff their emergency medical teams adequately.   I know in parts of our province, small communities are lucky if they can find enough experienced paramedics to staff their ambulance crews - and at that many of them are on call and take time to get to the station, then out to your call.  Something to keep in mind if it's at all likely you may need to call on emergency medical services for a pre-existing condition.
2. How far away is a trauma center or emergency room? If your new home is way out in the sticks and it takes an hour to get there from anywhere, your life may be on the line in an emergency.  Living that far away from medical facilities requires you to:  a) be extremely careful; and b) learn emergency first aid so you can increase your or your family member's chance of survival.
3. How long would it take an ambulance take to get to your house?  You can find this out by calling your local health authority - they should be able to give you a rough estimate.
4. Are local doctors taking new patients?  In our community, most of the regular doctors haven't been taking new patients for years.  Not having a consistent healthcare provider means that your doctor doesn't know you at all and can't tell whether or not you're looking 'well' or not compared to 'normal'.  Now, that's not saying having a new doctor isn't valuable - I've heard many stories of people with serious medical conditions that weren't diagnosed until they somehow ended up with a new doctor who immediately saw the problem and began treatment.  But if you can manage to find a regular, client-focussed doctor, hang on to them!
5. How far away is the closest emergency clinic?  Same as noted above, having a clinic reasonably close means you have at least somewhere to go should you get a deep gash while installing your fencing.

The first time you whack your leg with the firewood axe or the chickens scratch the dickens out of your arms, you’ll want to know that medical help is close by.

Weather and Road Maintenance

1. Is the road servicing your property maintained by local government, private contractor or the landowners themselves?  The answer to this question will (usually) dictate how well your roads are maintained.  Of course, with many jurisdictions facing tough economic times, road maintenance budgets have been reduced, so you'll want to know that before making the move.
2. What is the official priority for road clearing in winter or after storms?  You’ll want to know this.  Our road is fairly remote and not a critical route, but it does lead to two rather large employers here, so I think they make sure things are cleared fairly quickly.  But if we’d lived here two winters ago, we’d have been locked in the snow for days, as the road was pretty low on the clearing priority list.  We could walk up to the highway and have someone collect us from there, but I drive a tiny little car, which of course, isn't so smart for the snow.  Why not just buy a truck?  First fuel prices, and second, I’m not willing to impact the environment by driving a truck full time.  So I keep my fingers crossed – and have good snow tires... plus we have access to a truck should we really need it.
3. What is the schedule for maintenance on the roads leading to your property?  If the road to your new or dream property is in rough shape, find out what the schedule is for repair.  Rough roads will increase the wear and tear on your vehicle, will be hazardous in extreme weather, and will increase the time any trips to town will take (not to mention emergency vehicle access).

Electrical Outages

1. How often does the power go out in the area?  Call your local power company and get the stats on outages.  This may or may not be an issue for you, depending on your set-up for dealing with it, but if you plan on working from your homestead with an internet access, or your well pump runs on electricity, you'll need to know this and plan accordingly.
2. How long does it take to get back running, on average? 
3. Is your new property on a priority trunk?  Our property is on a long, strung-out trunk that is prone to outages due to the number of trees overhanging the lines.  I didn't realize this when we moved here, but it's definitely been an issue considering my business requires electrical power to run.  It means I have to go 'out' to work, which is fine, but can have its own challenges.

You can have all sorts of back-up electrical systems in place, but continual power outages are hard on your electronics, your pocketbook and depending on your set-up, potentially your health and safety.  Now, if you plan to set up completely off-grid electrical systems, you can obviously ignore this one!  But you’ll still need to know how to fix and maintain your systems, or at least who to call should you need help.

Natural or Industrial Hazards

1. Does your desired property sit on a floodplain (near a river)?  At the bottom of a hill?   As our weather becomes more erratic, with heavier rain and snowfall, we've seen more flooding, often with catastrophic effects.  Something to keep in  mind as you're scouting properties.  No one needs that sort of stress in their lives.
2. Near a factory or mill?  Check out the area around your property thoroughly.  Note any industrial facilities and find out what they do there, what kind of chemicals and substances they use in their processes, and their emergency protocols.  We've got a dryland log sort, a log homebuilder, and another wood-based company down the road - none of which operate with any hazardous substances, meaning I have no concerns with their operations.  There is also a paper mill a few miles down the inlet that used to use chlorine in their manufacturing process, which during a major earthquake event could have been a serious issue depending on which way the winds were blowing.  They no longer use chlorine, but I have to admit I know very little about their operations.  I need to get on that!

All of these things will determine the potential for catastrophe.  And your insurance costs (or if insurance would even be available).  So often we hear of properties being wiped out by floods along rivers with an active flood history.  Don’t be one of those people, no matter how gorgeous the property might be.  The flood might only happen once every 100 years, but you don’t want to be there when it does.

Zoning, Planning & Services

1. Is there an official community plan in the area?  Visit the local municipal hall or county offices to find out what the plans are for the area around your potential property.  You don't want to buy a property and then find out a big industrial facility is planned next door in five years.  People do this all the time - they don't do their research, then bring out the protest signs when someone puts a business next door.  Don't be one of those people!
2. Are there plans for industrial or residential development nearby?  This may bother you, or it might not, depending on the nature of the business.  But definitely find out all the details so you can save yourself the stress of living next door to a business that drives you crazy.
3. If the property is serviced by the municipality, town or county, are there plans for upgrading water or sewer systems?  This will dictate your tax and utility rates for years to come, so it's critical to know what the plans are.  Our nearest big city regional district has to upgrade their entire water and sewer infrastructure in the next few years because they let it go without major upgrades for so long.  They've already spent hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars, with much more to come.   These services are not free, and they require maintenance
4. Is there garbage collection?  This will be a cost, for sure, but it will save you from having to haul any garbage you might have to the local landfill.  If there is no garbage collection, which is often the case in far-flung rural communities (particularly of big items) some people will dump their garbage in the bush - make sure one of these illegal dumps hasn't found its way to some obscure corner of your property, as you'll be footing the bill for clean-up.

Over and over we hear about city people moving to the country and then wanting it to either be just like the city (services), or they don’t want anything to ever change again, ever (development), or they don’t want to pay for changes already in the pipe.  Ask questions first and be comfortable with the answers you get.  Make sure you’re not one of those folk that rural people love to complain about.

The Wrap-up

So there you have it - five things to consider seriously before committing to a property purchase or rental.  I'm sure some of these things will be obvious to you, but maybe one or two are things you might not have thought of.  I know that I'll be asking a lot more questions should I purchase a rural property in the future.

Do you have any tips or stories to share about purchasing or renting a rural property?  Questions?  Please share them in the comments - there are countless people who can benefit from your wisdom! 

Well, we had an exciting afternoon recently! 

When you live in the forest, you get used to falling trees and branches flying around when the wind picks up, but we recently had a day that was a bit more dramatic than usual.

A storm blew through one afternoon last week from the north - a very unusual direction for our little protected hollow tucked between two hills.  Needless to say, our trees aren't really used to a breeze from that direction, and one showed a particular weakness. 

I was inside working and kept hearing a loud "CRACK", every 30 seconds or so when the wind gusted. 

Then it got louder. 

And louder.

Thinking I should probably identify the tree so I could figure out what direction it might fall (and if we should be hightailing it out of there), we opened the front door just in time to see it fall in slow motion (as falling trees are wont to do), shattering into pieces across the driveway and a section of our split rail fence.

A bit of a mess?  Absolutely.  But little damage, thank goodness.

Click here to see the video of the aftermath...  

In this part of the world, we have a lot of western hemlock, red alder and broadleaf maple - three species notorious for falling on unsuspecting homesteads and their assorted outbuildings!  The alders and maples tend to rot at a relatively young age, and the hemlocks have extremely shallow root systems that give way in the combination of heavy rain and wild winds.  And as you are probably assuming by this point, our little cabin is surrounded by all three.

Hazard Tree Assessment for Your Rural Property

First off, let me say that I have a big space in my heart for big, old, deciduous trees (maples, oaks, a lot of the exotic street trees, and even our local alder).  They're so beautiful and poetic - an invitation to go sit underneath with a good book and while the afternoon away.  A place for kids to climb and play.  A gorgeous addition to the landscape, providing shade in the summer and windbreaks in the winter.  Before we moved to the country, I couldn't imagine why anyone would want to cut one down.

Now, after being here in the forest going on 3 years, I get it.

Around here, deciduous tend to rot out or become unstable at a fairly young age, so having a specimen of advanced age anywhere near a building is just asking for trouble.  So how do we attempt to stay safe and not end up a statistic at worst, or with a crushed roof, car, chicken house or other outbuilding?

So far we've been extremely lucky.  In the summer of 2010 we had a maple just about take my son and I out when we were playing catch on the lawn.  It actually fell on the roof of the cabin, but I guess the angle of the tree and roof (or something) meant only minor dents to the metal chimney cap and the rain gutter on that side of the building.  So as you can imagine, we quickly called in the local licensed tree guy to do some 'trimming'. 

Apparently, we didn't ask him to go far enough.

So here's what the experts recommend looking for in trees around our home and outbuildings in order to assess safety for the winter winds (preferably before winter!):

• Dead tops and branches - These are the ones that can skewer you and your livestock if they break off in a windstorm, and are the signs of possible disease and instability.  They are incredibly dangerous and should be removed, not only for immediate safety reasons, but because removing  it allows for a clean, solid layer of natural bark to form.  What does natural bark do for a tree?  It acts as a barrier and protects the tree from insect infestation and rot. This means the tree is less susceptible to disease, is less of a fire hazard, and, well, it looks better!
• Species that commonly fall in windstorms in your area -  Each region will have a different tree that's well known for danger.  Keep an eye on these ones.  Often they'll be sound for a long, long time - but other times, not so much.
• Heavy branches or trees hanging over utility lines or right over your house or outbuildings - These should be removed or seriously trimmed.
• Heavily branched trees with a lot of 'windsail' - Consider having all trees around buildings trimmed out to reduce 'windsail', which is the effect of branches providing resistance against winds and creating a perfect storm (no pun intended!) for trees crashing to the ground... or on your roof.
• Signs of disease or instability- Of course, this will vary from region to region and species to species, so it's good to learn at least a little bit about the trees in your area and what a healthy one looks like versus one that's seen better days.  Some things to look for are (Source: savatree.com): 
• cavities or rotten wood along the trunk or major branches
• mushrooms around the base
• cracks or splits in the trunk
• dead or dying trees nearby
• a noticeable lean to the trunk
• broken or damaged roots
• construction or projects nearby that may have altered the roots
• removal of adjacent trees
• heavy topping or pruning
• Storm damage - After each wind storm, check all your trees again.  High winds can create brand new hazards to contend with.

As with anything to do with rural living, it really does pay to spend a bit of time learning about your surroundings and what is 'normal' versus what might constitute a hazard.  While your chances of being killed or injured by a falling tree or branches is really low, the same can't be said for your outbuildings, vehicles and equipment.  You've made a big investment in your dream life - it's worth spending a few minutes a few times a year to make sure it's protected.

Now, as for getting the job done, please don't borrow your neighbour's chainsaw and tackle the job yourself (unless you're a trained tree maintenance specialist with all the proper equipment).  Tree maintenance and removal is a very dangerous business, even for the professionals, and really should be left to the people who know what they're doing.  My dad is an ex-logger, and even he won't touch some of the ones around our place  (though he's been very helpful and generous in coming down and cleaning up the fallen trees for us!).

So yes, we'll be calling in the tree service contractor shortly...  that or just waiting for the trees to fall down on their own.  Kidding - not recommended.  At all.

How to Find a Tree Removal and Maintenance Service

For this job, you want someone who knows what they are doing. There are good tree service companies and really bad tree service companies (tree butchers, really).  The good ones are well trained and leave your trees healthy, safe and visually attractive.   The butchers?  Well, you've probably seen their work - they're the ones who come in and your property either looks like a moonscape when they're done, or the trees are so messed up there's no way they'll ever be healthy again and actually constitute more of a hazard than they were before the work was done.  And you're out a few hundred bucks to boot.

So, what should you look for in a contractor?   

• References from friends and neighbours - This is bar none the best way to get the most professional and expert service in a rural area.  Your neighbours will know which contractors will actually show up when they say they're going to (a big problem in many rural communities - they run on a different time scale, I think), and who know what they're doing.  Much better than checking online (many companies in rural communities still don't have websites, though the bigger, more well organized ones will - I guess that's something else to look for!), or the Yellow Pages.
• Licences, training and insurance - Depending on where you live, this will obviously vary, but you want to make sure whoever is doing the job is trained and insured.  Should something happen to the worker on your property as a result of maintaining your trees, you don't want to be held responsible from a legal perspective.
• Visibly well maintained equipment - Obviously if you're not familiar with these things, this will be a bit difficult, but the guy who shows up to fall or trim your trees in a rusty old truck with no markings, no safety equipment and running shoes is likely not your guy.
• And of course, great customer relations -  You can learn a lot from a good tree service professional that will help protect your property for years to come.

The Wrap-up

So, a few times a year (once at the beginning of each season is a good rule of thumb), and again after a big storm, check the trees around your buildings for damage or potential problems.  If you simply don't need one more thing on your to-do list, call one of the companies you've sussed out using the checklist above - many will come out and do an assessment for free or minimal cost.  Whatever you do, just get it done - your investments are worth it!

And once you've finished all that, you can relax for the winter.  Until the power goes out and your water lines freeze, of course...

Do you have any experiences with crashing trees that others might learn from?  If so, we'd love to hear from you!  Share it in the comments section... 

 

Until we got our chickens, I have to say that I really didn’t ‘get it’.

Sure, I stopped buying factory farmed eggs back in the early 1990s, switched to raw dairy a few years ago, and have basically embraced a much more holistic lifestyle.  But when it came time to add chickens (our first ‘livestock’) to our little modern homestead, I just assumed what they told you to do in the books would work.

The verdict?  We’ve been at this for almost 5 months – just a blink in farmer years, but even in that short amount of time, we’ve learned that while the standard operating procedure of a coop and run, and even a chicken tractor, does work, there are better options, especially from the chickens’ perspective. 

Why Should We Care?

Let me start by saying that this article by Paul Wheaton pretty much rocked my newbie farmer world.  If you’re planning on getting chickens, or know anyone who is, this should be required reading.  It’s controversial, and it has rubbed some traditional chicken-raisers the wrong way, but the man has a point (and a way with words – it’s a good read). 

Basically, without anthropomorphizing too much, it turns out that there is such a thing as a ‘happy’ chicken.

Like many other animals we keep for our own use, chickens still carry a good chunk of their forest-dwelling instincts.   Uncle Larry may make snide remarks about how stupid chickens are, but let’s be honest:  Uncle Larry would look pretty dumb trying to survive in the jungle with his TV remote.  Chickens are only as capable as the environs we stick them in (same goes for Uncle Larry).  When allowed to roam around in dense undergrowth, these birds are actually pretty wily – ours have escaped a couple of coyote ambushes I believe because they’ve been outside with wildlife and, well, just ‘know’.  They don’t just stand there and fall over from fright…

So what does this have to do with ‘happy chickens’?  Turns out, everything. 

Chickens that have all of their basic needs taken care of, have lots of room to run and explore, and are attended to in a conscious way overall have less disease, fewer behaviour challenges, and, at least in my opinion, provide us with healthier food.  Sick, stressed, bedraggled animals can’t help but give up sick, stressed and bedraggled food.  It makes sense to me.  Then there’s the whole energetic component, but that’s fodder for another article.

What Chickens Need to be ‘Happy’

Whether you’re raising chickens for eggs, meat or both, there are a few things they need to be truly in their element and to provide us with the healthiest food possible. 

Good Eats

Garbage in, garbage out – and I don’t mean kitchen scraps (which, of course, can be high on chickens’ list of gourmet items).  Basically, to be ultimately healthy, I believe they need a varied diet beyond their laying mash or protein-packed feed.  Chickens are omnivores (as this video so graphically demonstrates), not vegetarians. When you see the term ‘Grain Fed’ on your box of eggs, it just tells you that overall, the commercial egg industry really can not provide you with the healthiest product.  How could they?  Organic eggs would be $15 a dozen if they were actually able to give the birds anything close to an outdoor life.  Bottom line?  Given the choice, a chicken will take a housefly over a bowl of grain any day – though they love the grain too…  The point is that, like us, they need a little bit of everything for optimum health: bugs, grain, vegetables, fruit, greens, even meat scraps and ground egg shells.  And the more they can get on their own within the safety of your yard or property (assuming you or your neighbours aren’t spraying your properties or using any toxic substances anywhere), the less commercial feed (preferably certified organic) they will consume.  It’s really win-win all around.

Clean Water

Chickens can mess up a water supply pretty quickly with all the flinging of bedding, dust and poop.  I’ve seen coops where it looks like the water hasn’t been changed in days – all full of scunge and stinky.  Yuck.  Would you drink water like that?  Of course not – and neither should your chickens.  I’m still working on our watering system, but essentially, it gets changed out every morning, and tended to again in the evening.  There are systems that make this daily ritual unnecessary, but it’s critical to make sure your birds have access to fresh water, always. 

Access to Pasture

Here’s where things get controversial.  If you read Paul Wheaton’s article, he talks about visiting coop after coop full of chickens standing spur deep in their own waste, and that somehow their keepers thought this was OK.  After all, they’re ‘only chickens’.  Would you want to stand around in your own crap all day?  I’m thinking the answer is probably ‘no’ – and neither should they. 

So what else is possible? 

There are a few ways of doing it, and of course each comes with a list of pros and cons.  Each of these could be an article in itself, so I’ll just briefly touch on the highlights:

• Chicken Tractor – A small, somewhat secure pen (depending on what sort of predators you have in your neck of the woods) that is portable enough to move around the yard, allowing your chickens access to greens, bugs and a bit of variety, one small space at a time.  Made popular by the permaculture movement, it’s often used in areas where the landowner wants to prepare the soil for planting something the following season, as the chickens not only do the weeding and de-bugging, but fertilize the plot as well.  Once all the greens are gone, the tractor is moved to a new plot.  We have one of these, but it’s a bit difficult for me to move on my own so it only gets used if it’s a decent day and the birds need to be secured while I’m away from the house for a short period and I want them to have more variety than sitting in their coop run.
• Poultry Pen – Essentially, a larger version of the tractor, often with secure housing built in.  As with the chicken tractor, it’s meant to be moved regularly to allow for access to greens and the spreading of fertilizer.
• Chicken Paddock – This looks very much like a moveable yard surrounding a portable coop.  You set up a secure house for the birds, and around it you place a portable fence that you move every once in awhile.  The benefit is that you don’t have to move it as often as a tractor or poultry pen, as the ‘yard’ is bigger, and the birds have more room to roam and do what birds do.  What I still haven’t quite figured out about this method is how the birds are protected from predators (it’s said you can leave them for days, but I’m not sure I could do that here with our plethora of weasels, raccoons and coyotes).  An electric fence would do the trick, but it would also fry the birds – if it wouldn’t fry the birds, it wouldn’t be strong enough to keep out most predators.  I need to do more research on this one.
• Free Range – This is what most people think of when they think of backyard chickens – birds running free around the yard, scratching and clucking, with room to fly if they feel the need.  The benefits are many: more varied nutrition for your birds, more physical activity, more potentially detrimental bugs eaten, and of course, the joy of seeing chickens being chickens (they are pretty darned entertaining).  There are some cons, of course, namely that they’ll dig up any unfenced garden beds and they’ll poop on pretty much everything – and I mean everything.   Then of course there’s the predator factor – when they’re out and about, they’re easier targets, which is why I would never have them ranging when I’m away from the cabin.  We’ve been lucky so far, and I believe that the more time they spend ranging, the more their instincts to be wary of predators stay intact and grow.  That’s my theory, anyway… I’ll keep you posted as to how that works out!

The Wrap-up

Any animal we take under our care deserves to be treated well, and with respect.  And if you can provide them with environments and activities that attempt to replicate what they would have experienced in the wild, to satisfy some of their intact instinctual behaviours, all the better.  You’ll have healthier, happier animals which can only mean healthier food for you.  Sure it takes more effort, but if you’re not willing to put in the time, you have to ask yourself what it is you’re really trying to accomplish.  Anyone can throw a couple of hens in a tiny tractor in their backyard for eggs, but to raise truly healthy animals, and therefore healthy food, they need all of the things mentioned above.

In Part II, we’ll be discussing the other things chickens need to be ‘happy’.

What do you think?  We’d love to hear your thoughts on today’s article.  Do you agree, or do you think chickens are just dumb birds, dang it, and enough with all this mumbo jumbo – just give me my eggs!  Let us know in the comments below…

If there's one thing I hear over and over from readers who have a dream of rural living, is that it's their spouse, family or friends who are keeping them from their modern homesteading dream.

Let's face it – while the number of people desiring a rural lifestyle is growing, most of North American society thinks we're either dreamers and 'not being very practical', or we're flat out bonkers.  So if you have a burning desire to get out of the city or suburbs and into the wide open country and you've got loved ones raining on your parade, what do you do?  How do you convince them that you're onto something important?

I was fairly lucky when I announced my plan to return to the country and live in a little cabin in the woods.  Most of my friends either wished they could do the same, or were at least supportive.  My spouse, on the other hand (a born and bred city boy) had no interest in packing up and moving.  Truth be told, it was just one more difference that we weren't able to overcome, and the relationship was really long 'over' by that point (we've got a much better relationship now - go figure).  So no, I'm not a success story in that department, but if I had been in solid relationship, you bet your booty I'd have pulled out all the stops to convince him that moving to the country was a good idea.  I'd have done everything I could to prove to him that living a rural life would be better for our family and our relationship.

So at this point, all I can tell you is what we have gained and learned by pursuing our dream, and touching on what's going on in the world right now that makes rural living a very valid, and dare I say wise choice. 

Benefit #1 - Stress Levels Go WAY Down

There's something about all the background noise in the city that seems to keep us all jacked up, even if we don't know it.  At least it was that way with me.  Between the sirens and the noisy neighbours, sleep was something that eluded me more often than was healthy.  But here, I've stopped grinding my teeth at night and overall feel way less stressed, even though my workload has probably tripled.  There's  just something about waking up to birds and not screeching tires that soothes the soul. 

And with all the work required on a homestead, even a teensy tiny one, we're in better shape, even without going to the gym.  With all the wood chopping and piling, mowing, gardening, building and other chores necessary to keep a modern homestead functioning, our muscles never lack for things to do.  While I'm hardly an example of fitness any more because I spend so much time in front of the computer for my business (and researching homesteading skills and topics!), I know that I'm much healthier now than I was then - even when I was running 3 miles a day and biking to work.

Less stress means we're happier overall... and healthier.  Now there's a selling feature!

Benefit #2 - We're Less Reliant on the Industrial Food System 

With all that's going on today - droughts, floods, climate shifts, crop failures, topsoil loss, civil unrest, GMOs, food recalls, pesticides, complete economic restructuring, loss of nutrients in conventionally grown crops, and everything else we see in the news - it only makes sense to try to wean ourselves away from the industrial food system as much as possible.  Many 'in the know' are saying that we may see basic food prices double - or more - over the coming year. 

So, the more food we can grow, raise or glean ourselves, or buy from local growers and producers, the better off our families will be:  our food sources will be more secure and less reliant on transportation and big agriculture, and unless we're using raw sewage or something on our veggies, it will be safer because you'll know what's gone into and onto it. 

While it's possible to grow vast amounts of fruits, vegetables and poultry on a suburban property, it's pretty clear that it's a tad easier to be self sufficient when we've got more space.

Benefit #3 - We'll Avoid Much of the Craziness
the Next Few Years May Bring

As the economy continues it's dramatic shift and families and individuals are affected in so many ways, we're seeing a lot of fear rising up.  And what happens when people get fearful?  They do crazy things.

I remember a few years ago in Vancouver when we had heavy, heavy rains and a landslide washed into the mountain water supply.  It was muddy from the tap, and there was a region-wide boil water advisory affecting about 2 million people - most particularly, the advisory was directed at those with compromised immune systems.  Well, you'd have thought someone had dropped 12 tonnes of raw sewage into the lake - the line-ups for bottled water began almost immediately, and there were actual fist-fights among store customers as the supplies dwindled.  This when all we had to do was boil our drinking water (we just filtered ours with a bio-filter and suffered no ill effects)

If a simple boiled water advisory creates that kind of panic, I honestly have no interest in seeing what will happen should we be faced with an actual disaster in an urban area.  For some reason, rural towns seem to fare much better with these sorts of situations, as their residents are pretty much used to things like power outages, muddy water and the inconveniences that come with living away from big city centers.  You learn to make do and not whine and complain.  Well, most of the time, anyway...

So as the economy continues its shift and food prices rise as a result of drought, floods and everything else affecting big agriculture this year, I think we'll sadly see more and more people doing more and more desperate things.  For those who live in a community that's working on becoming more food secure (city or country, doesn't matter - there's good people doing great work everywhere), they'll be far more comfortable, and less stressed, than those who ignore all the warning signs and just take their chances that 'the government will look after them'.  

The bottom line is this - without prepping in some way, whether it be just getting a few weeks to a few months of food put away either by purchasing freeze dried meals or learning how to can and dehydrate food, we'll all be paying more for food a year from now (likely a lot more). Now what's that going to do for our stress levels?

Benefit #4 - Our Children Are More In Touch With the Natural World

My little guy has been a nature nut since before he could walk.  I remember watching him in the courtyard of our townhouse, where the only wildlife to be found were pillbugs and the odd ant.  I also remember thinking how sad it would be for a child this in love with nature to grow up surrounded by concrete and steel.  It was one of the big reasons I wanted to move to the country, and I'm so glad we did.  Seeing him now, surrounded by all sorts of critters (and now our chickens) and revelling in everything the natural world has to offer, I know I made the right decision.

Even his school is surrounded by trees and water, and is right across the street from the beach.  There's a creek running through the property, and they regularly see eagles and hawks, vultures and bears, right on the school grounds (you might not think bears at school is a good idea, but everyone is safe... ;o)  What a way to grow up!  I had a bit of that when I was little, but we lived in a subdivision (albeit a small town subdivision) and our school was the typical flat building surrounded by gravel and playing fields.  Not a creek in sight... 

Now, not all children are nature nuts, obviously, but spending time outdoors is good for everyone.  Getting in touch with the cycles of life, getting dirty and wet, understanding what it's like to be cold and feeling the sun on your face, exploring the edges of your capabilities - that's what childhood should be about, and it's so much more accessible in a rural community.  And for their self-esteem, sense of adventure and imagination?  There's nothing like it.

Of course, small towns have their drawbacks as well - but in our community, at least, we've got access to brilliant music teachers, fabulous teachers and a tonne of activities... even some we wouldn't find in the city.  And not to mention that with all the hard work involved in keeping a homestead running, they'll keep their bodies limber and their minds active.  It's pretty hard to be bored and get in trouble when there's just so much stuff to do!    

Benefit #5 -  We're Part of a Community

It's pretty much impossible to 'do' this homesteading thing without connecting with others in a big way.  And while it's easy to be anonymous in the city, it's not quite so in the country.  Sure, you could go hide away in the bush and never see anyone (personally, I'm quite happy hanging out at home), but I've had enough experience now to know that I can't do this thing alone.  Nor would I want to, not that I've met all the wonderful people that seem to surround us.  

Asking for help, by its very nature, builds community.  And that's a very good thing should we face the kind of food price increases and job losses that are looking likely - we're going to need each other like we haven't in decades.  Thing is, most small communities have never forgotten what it's like to be dependent on neighbours - especially those that have lived through a natural disaster or other calamity.  It's only those of us from the city who find it easy to disconnect from everyone around us and just do our own thing - until we realize that that's just dumb (speaking for myself, of course!).

I'll tell you, there's just something really comforting about knowing that other people have got your back. 

The Wrap-up

If you're facing doubters in your own life, hopefully this has been helpful.  Whether they think you've gone completely off the rail or just can't imagine why you'd want to leave the comfort of the city for an uncertain future on a homestead, maybe this will provide a bit of food for thought to pass along.  It goes without saying that this life is not for the faint of heart, and there are many times I wonder what the heck I'm doing here. But at the end of the day, I rest well knowing I've made the best choice for my family.  Of course, there are other serious questions that need to be considered, and lots more to discuss on this topic, but if it's your dream, I say go for it!  Life is supposed to be an adventure, right?  

I'd love to hear your thoughts on today's article. If you've got experience with moving your family to the country, or have any stats or great reasons to make the move that you'd be willing to share, we'd love to hear from you in the comments below!  We're all learning from each other, and the more we put out there, the more we get back... ;)  

There’s this affliction that’s been going around for a few years now – it plants this really vivid dream in your head of escaping the rat race and moving to the country.  Of growing your own food, collecting your own eggs and of your children being raised under the influence of nature instead of video games.

It’s a niggly bug that buries itself in your psyche and won’t let go. With every city siren, rude neighbour and complaining customer at work, it gets louder and more in your face. And it’s infecting millions.

I know. I used to be a victim. But I found the cure: I just did it.

Well, OK. Truth be told it wasn’t quite that easy, but ultimately, that really was the answer.

So what is this mysterious affliction?  I call it the ‘modern homesteading’ bug, but it also goes by ‘the back to the land’ movement, rural living, and a number of other monikers.

I caught it more than a decade ago, when I spent a week at a cool little hostel in the backwoods of Powell River, British Columbia.

Fiddlehead Farm was an original West Coast homestead, carved out of the thick forest by pioneers more than a hundred years ago.  What would possess anyone to put themselves through that kind of torture to make a life for themselves, I’ll never know (if you’ve ever hacked through rainforest underbrush, you’ll know what I’m talking about – it’s virtually impenetrable, and they carved out entire productive farms from it).  But they did, and by the time I visited it was a quiet, cool little oasis of sustainability that welcomed visitors from around the world.  And it infected me with the bug.

Sadly, Fiddlehead Farm no longer exists, razed to the ground by new landowners because it was a safety liability.  But I do know that its spirit of self-sufficiency (and sheer funkiness – in a good way) lives on in many of us who were lucky enough to spend time there.

So this affliction, this modern homesteading bug – how do you know you have it?  Here are 5 ways to tell for sure:

Sign #1:  You find yourself reading every gardening and rural living magazine you can get your hands on.

Grit, Mother Earth News, and so many others... they’re superb resources for anyone thinking of moving to the country – and even for those of us who already have.  Some hardcore and experienced homesteaders find these magazines too rudimentary for their tastes (crazy, isn't it?  I know!!!), but as someone who is a relative newbie at this rural living gig, I’ve found (and still find) them all invaluable and very enjoyable reading.  There's definitely a place for the more technical (and dare I say, harder for the average person to read) journals, but these magazines fill a necessary niche, and I for one am really glad they're available so readily.

Well worth checking out if you’re just starting our your research into modern homesteading and rural living.

Sign #2: You find store-bought factory farm eggs totally inedible.

This starts to happen as you get introduced to ‘real food’.  And once you’ve had a farm fresh, free range egg, there’s absolutely no going back.  The difference is so distinct, so HUGE, there’s actually no comparison between them and their factory counterparts. I don’t even think they’re in the same food group (though many nutritionists would beg to disagree… and that’s OK – we know the truth).  The thought of eggs produced by happy hens who you’ve cared for yourself is something that just oozes self-sufficiency.

Of course there are issues with some commercial feed (think GMO corn and soy), but even at that, hens that have a chance to scratch grass and dirt, eat bugs and greens, and actually run around and spread their wings (as compared to living their lives in a couple square feet of cage and never once feeling the ground on their feet), are going to produce superior nutrition in their eggs.  To believe otherwise just seems bizarre to me.

Sign #3: Your teeth are wearing out from clenching your jaw.

This is actually kind of serious – I was actually wearing down my teeth from gritting them together while I slept – and probably during the day, too – to the point where my dentist ordered me a ‘nightguard’.  Since moving to our rural home, it’s no longer an issue and I threw the nightguard away.  Enough said?

Sign #4: You find yourself vacationing on working farms, at vineyards and in quaint, rural towns – and checking out real estate while you’re there. 

Oh, and you don’t want to go home.

Ever.

I always knew I’d end up back in a small town (I grew up in one – the one I live close to now, actually!), and always found myself visiting other small towns when I went on holiday. The bottom line is that once you’ve got the rural living bug, it’s pretty hard to get rid of – especially when you spend your holidays basking in the quiet of a small community.  The only cure is to actually move to one and see how you fare.

Sign #5: You’re reading this blog.

Now, I don’t want to make any assumptions, but if you’re still reading this, it’s quite likely you’ve thought about moving to the country at least once.  I’m honoured that you’re here, and taking time out of your busy day to read my post.  My goal is to provide both inspiration and a reality check to those seeking a rural lifestyle – it’s not always easy, but it IS always rewarding.  At least so far!

So, have you been bitten?

If you answered yes to 3 or more of the above questions, I’m happy to tell you that you’re probably totally done for!  If you’re still dreaming and haven’t started doing the research, what are you waiting for?  There has been no better time in our history to make the move:  countless superb online resources to make the transition easier, lots of products and materials to take out the guesswork, and a tonne of support via this blog and other rural living forums!  If you want it, you can absolutely do it – there is always a way.  I spent years planning our move, and finally, when the time was right, we took the plunge.  Risky?  Sure, maybe from the outside.  But the proof is in the pudding, as they say: it’s worked out better than I could have ever imagined – just as I knew it would.  And it can be the same for you…

So What Now?

If you’re thinking of making the move, we’ve got a some resources we think you’ll find super useful:

• 5 Mistakes Newbie Homesteaders Make – Don’t Let This be You! is a 45 minute audio interview with modern homesteading guru Robin Wheeler – and it’s information I think everyone who moves from the city to the country needs to have in their research arsenal.  Trust me, you don’t want to show up as one of those ‘city people’ who drive the locals crazy – at least not one who thinks they know it all.  Because we don’t… at least not compared to those who’ve been doing it for years and years and years.  It’s well worth a listen – it’s downloadable, and it’s free.  Get the audio here:  5 Mistakes Newbie Homesteaders Make 
• Our Facebook page is a great place to connect with others who are living the modern homesteading lifestyle, or just pondering the possibility.  ’Like’ the page today and I promise I’ll do my best to make it worth your while!  You can find us on Facebook here:  facebook.com/modernhomesteading 

Do you pine for a rural lifestyle, or have you recently made the move from city to country?  We’d love to hear about it!  Please share in the comments below – your stories might just help others make that decision to take the plunge and live out their dream…

Colliding with a deer in your car is not an experience I recommend. But in most cases, it's entirely avoidable if you keep in mind 5 simple tips. Except in my case. Here's that story.

In November of 2009 I was driving my son to his carpool on a cold, rainy, rather dark morning in my teensy, tiny little car (picture 6 inches off the ground and no front end ... modern little gas sipper).

There's this weird corner just down the road from us on the highway that's a 90 degree turn going uphill and banked oddly. As I entered the turn, and accelerated slightly to get us up and over the hill, something caught my eye at the right bumper - a deer coming up and out of the deep ditch.

With no shoulder on the road (and I mean none), neither the deer, nor we, had a chance. It all happened so fast.

You know those moments that are etched in your memory forever? The ones that no matter what you do, they never go away? This was one of those moments.

All I remember is the deer literally flying through the air, across the road, and into the ditch. And I'm sitting in a tiny, black, disabled car on a dark morning in a blind corner frequented by large, more often than not fast moving industrial vehicles (think fully loaded logging trucks). And my son was in the back seat.

We needed to get to a safe spot, and fast.

The car was barely running, but I managed to get it up and over the hill to a spot where there was a tiny bit of shoulder. Then it died completely.

After I stopped freaking out that I'd just hit and likely killed another living creature in a very horrible way, I got out to inspect the damage. And I was shocked.

The entire front driver's side of the car was destroyed. The deer must have jumped a the last millisecond and missed the passenger side. A couple of inches higher on that tiny hood and the deer would have come right through the sloped windshield.  Chances are I wouldn't be writing here today. To say I was lucky is an understatement.

I called my parents to see if they could come pick up my son to get him to school, then tried to figure out who to call next. Police? Conservation officer? I hadn't a clue. A few guys stopped going the opposite direction to ask if I needed assistance (thank you, kind people!), and finally one stopped who was a police officer in the city and told me to just call 911 and they'd take it from there. So that's what I did.

My dad arrived about 20 minutes later and went to check on the deer - it wasn't in the ditch, which was very bad, as he was obviously somewhere in the bush, injured. The police arrived next, followed by the tow-truck driver. While I was making arrangements for my car to be towed to a local body shop, my dad and the officer went back to attempt to find the deer. They did locate it - a very small, young buck, lethally injured, a few metres in the bush back on the same side of the road it was coming from when it jumped into us. Its front right leg and shoulder were shattered.

I cried some more...

The police officer wouldn't enter the bush to dispatch the animal (said it was a 'footwear safety issue' - he was wearing his street issue shoes... which made me wonder what he'd have done if there was a perpetrator involved he had to give foot chase to, but that's a post for someone else's blog). So we were left with a badly injured animal in the bush, and no way to put it out of its misery. We couldn't do it, because it's illegal to shoot a deer out of season without a tag in an area not designated for hunting, even in an emergency situation like this. Which I think is crazy, but the law is not up to me.

So we called the conservation officer, who is legally able to deal with these sorts of situations, but he was unable to come for at least 2 hours, as he was on in another community on another call. So while I took over dealing with the aftermath in terms of insurance, notifying my employer I'd be off most of the day, and getting my car assessed, my father very kindly took over dealing with this poor animal. Eventually the conservation officer showed up and put the poor creature out of its misery. Just so, so sad.

5 Simple Tips

We just drove 400 km on highways well frequented by big wildlife - most specifically deer - so you can imagine this was on my mind again. I've driven a lot around rural British Columbia, and have luckily never had another incident like this. I intend it to be the first and the last.  I've seen far too many beautiful animals killed, and people's lives impacted (and in many cases destroyed by injuries) to not proclaim this to the rooftops:  most collisions with animals are entirely avoidable.  Here are five things to keep in mind while driving rural roads and highways to dramatically reduce your chances of becoming a statistic:

1. Drive the speed limit. It's pretty clear that the faster you drive, the less time you have to react to something stepping out on the road in front of you.  Never mind that speeding isn't all that smart to begin with, and your chances of injury and death increase every time you add a bit to your speed, but it's especially important when planning for avoiding wildlife collisions.  On our most recent trip, I was traveling slightly over the speed limit of 110 km/h, and was regularly blown past by vehicles large and small.  This is an easy one - slow down.
2. Know in advance what sorts of wildlife frequent the area you'll be driving through and their patterns of activity. Different animals have different ways of moving through the landscape, and various reactions to approaching vehicles.  For more information on animal behaviour, take a look at this wildlife collision prevention website.
3. Drive during daylight hours. Don't drive at dawn, dusk or at night unless you absolutely have to.  Your chances of animal impacts increase at these hours, as light levels are low, and animal activity is higher than at other times of the day.  It's difficult to see wildlife at these hours - avoid driving at these times if at all possible.
4. Keep scanning, always scanning.  Rarely do animals come barreling full speed across the road with no warning.  It does happen (especially during the rut in the fall) but it's not common.  More likely are animals milling about the side of the road, hesitating before crossing, or coming from a few feet off the road.  You can avoid most accidents simply by scanning the roadsides as you drive and not getting distracted by conversation, music, electronic devices or exhaustion.
5. Pay attention to the signs. In many jurisdictions, sections of road with high wildlife interaction potential have signs telling you so.  The signs are there for a reason, and it pays to heed them by upping your attention to the first four tips above.  Deer don't read signs, though, and can just as easily show up in areas without signs - it pays to know what makes good habitat so you can adjust your driving accordingly.  Here are some of common characteristics of these areas:

• Where creeks, rivers and swamps intersect roads;
• Where lots of green grass is growing near the roadside;
• Where there is a fresh water source nearby; and
• Long, wide, straight stretches of road.

The Wrap-up

In our case, I'm not sure any of the above would have helped, except possibly 'scanning', but from the vantage point of our low-to-the-ground car, a small deer coming out of a deep ditch on a blind corner with no road shoulder was virtually invisible until the last second.  I think it was unavoidable.  In a taller vehicle, I likely would have seen him in the ditch before we came upon him, and could have stopped in time, but in our tiny car, there was just no way I can see we could have missed each other.

But I learned a lot, and I hope this article will help you avoid this sort of experience.  It's not one you want in your memory.

For more information on vehicle wildlife collisions and how to avoid them, visit wildlifeaccidents.ca. 

Have you ever had a collision with an animal?  I'd love to hear your stories and advice in the comments below.  

*Photo source: iStockphoto.com/4FR 

This week marks 6 months that I've been making a living full time from our little piece of heaven in the forest. As I've mentioned in previous posts, it was a long held dream of mine to bring my work home and spend more time with my son. Of course, as is so often the case, dreams have a funny way of turning out not quite how we expect. It's been amazing, and I wouldn't change anything – until now.

Now, to say the transition from full time employment to full time self-employment was smooth would be a disservice to everyone reading this.  I didn't know right off the bat how to make a living in the country.

And to say I've completely sorted out the myriad challenges of working for myself would be a lie.

But now, barely six months into this venture, I have a thriving web design and support business serving a small group of exclusive (and amazing!) clients, and am having a blast developing my modern homesteading site.  I'm able to pick my son up from school and attend his plays and concerts, I can take time off in the middle of the day to have coffee with a friend, my office window looks out over a lush green forest, and I'm serenaded all day long by birdsong.

So yes, I'm happy.  And super busy!

But it hasn't come without a LOT of lessons.  Here are my top 5 tips for working successfully from your homestead (a couple of which I'm still working on!):

Tip #1:  There's always something to do - so keep a list, prioritize it and time your tasks.

Personally, I have this really bad habit of taking on more work than I can realistically handle at any given amount of time.  "Oh sure, I can do that!"  Right.

I've struggled with this for a very long time.  Chalk it up to my perfectionist personality, I guess, and the fact that I can actually do most things I attempt!  But what I've learned the last six months is that there's absolutely no room in a truly successful home based business for this form of self-sabotage.  It's not fair to the client, to me, to my family... no one.  And honestly, even though I can do a lot of technical tasks doesn't mean it's the best use of my time to actually do so.

So how do you get this under control?  I started with a detailed to-do list that I rewrite and prioritize every day, Basecamp, and when I'm really 'with it', using a timer.  I always time my work for billing purposes, but haven't really used the tool to keep me on track with multiple projects from a time management perspective.  Use a countdown timer on your smartphone, or something like e.ggtimer.  I learned this trick from my business coach and when I remember to use it, it works beautifully to keep me focussed and not so likely to go wandering off on Facebook...  And man I get a lot done!

So, yes, I'm still actively working on prioritizing my to-do list and giving myself time constraints for tasks, but am finding it easier every day to be at least somewhat realistic about my ability to deliver a product on time.  The result?  I'm feeling WAY less stressed and am enjoying my work so much more.  Kind of a nice perk, don't you think?

Tip #2:  Use a project management tool like Basecamp to keep yourself organized.

As mentioned above, I use Basecamp to keep my projects organized and to allow clients to check in on their projects at any time of day without having to contact me.  I'm currently managing 29 projects with this tool - without Basecamp, I can't imagine how I'd stay sane.  It shows all my milestones in calendar format, features to-do lists and writeboards, file uploads and messages.  And the Basecamp app on my iPhone keeps me on track when I'm away from the computer.

This tip alone has reduced my stress level dramatically - I no longer have to burn through email messages to find client instructions.  Can't tell you how good that feels - not to mention how much more productive.  Definitely worth taking for a test drive...

Tip #3:  Keep regular working hours.

It's my goal to work 6 hours a day, Monday to Friday, with specific days designated for my web design clients and the modern homesteading site.  I definitely haven't got anywhere close to this sort of time management, but I'm working on it.  Far too often I'm still working at 7:30 at night after being in front of the computer off and on since 8:30 am, but I have stopped working late into the evening.  With carpooling for school, looking after the homestead and other stuff that just 'comes up', I'm finding it challenging to set regular working hours and stick to them, so I've pretty much given up on that – it was creating more stress than it was solving.  But I still end up working far more than 6 hours a day, and that's where I need to buckle down and start outsourcing some tasks.

The whole point of moving to our homestead was so I could do more fun things with my family.  So far, I've really done nothing much but work on building my business.  I have a gorgeous wooden rowboat we've taken out once, I live steps from the beach and haven't been there in weeks, and I have mountains right outside my door and haven't been on a hike in years.  Don't get me wrong – I'm incredibly grateful for my business, and I love serving my clients – but I'd love it even more if I could spend more time enjoying our beautiful part of the world with friends and family.

Not an unfamiliar feeling to anyone who works for him or herself, I'm sure...

Tip #4:  Don't try to do it alone.

I've tried doing it all myself, and I'm here to tell you that while it's possible, it's definitely not advisable.  I don't make any money spending six hours trying to figure out a Joomla component – I just get frustrated.  So now I go to the people in the know, and I'm so much happier.  I've been fortunate to have been recently introduced to a whole group of superbly capable, talented business owners to whom I'm now in the process of outsourcing specific tasks that they love, but I, I've only recently admitted, do not.

Other platforms for outsourcing include elance.com, odesk.com, and other services where you can find talented people to help you grow your business.  My only word of advice would be to know exactly who you're looking for, and exactly what you expect from a virtual assistant, designer or other professional.  As a designer, I've seen too many clients (not my own, thank goodness – my clients rock!) who really don't know what they want, and expect 5-star work for a 1-star pricetag.  That's not fair to anyone.  But if you've done the research, you're realistic about what virtual assistance can provide you, and you know what you want and who you want to work with, you're golden!  This also applies to hiring help around your homestead to take care of some of the tasks you maybe don't enjoy so much, and could be a blessing to someone in your community – mowing the lawn, weeding the vegetable beds, helping construct chicken houses and outbuildings ... your dislike of a task or lack of time, and your willingness to pay someone else fairly to do that work for you is such a gift.  Don't forget to give it!  It will open up a whole new world ...

Tip #5:  Get a mentor.

This should actually be Tip #1, it's that important.

As a person who used to think I didn't need help with anything, this was huge for me.  In fact, I resisted the idea for years.  And, of course, for years I dreamed about working from home and having an online business, but never actually got it off the ground.  I learned a lot and spent a lot of time in workshops and reading manuals (and spent a tonne of money), but working for myself remained a dream – until I found a mentor.  For me, it was someone who wasn't scared to kick my butt, who could be honest with me about where I was wasting time and energy, and who knew exactly what I needed to hear to motivate me to finally make my dream a reality.  That person is Sandi Krakowski.

For you, it might be someone local you can meet with regularly, but it definitely doesn't have to be.  My mentor lives 3800 km away, and I only met her for the first time in early June after working with her for almost a year.  I started out with copywriting coaching in August 2010, then took the plunge into a 6 month coaching program in January 2011.  And during that short time, I went from the modern homesteading site being just a sparkle of a dream to what you see today – a work in progress that has opened up a whole new world for me, and that's been the vehicle for me to meet some of the most inspiring people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing.  I've also launched my web design business that's been so successful I've had to keep it on the down-low so as not to succumb to the temptation to take on more work than I can handle ...

So there you have it – finding a suitable mentor who you resonate with, who will give you tough love, and who leads with integrity and honour, is a huge component of a successful home based business ... especially for those of use who are living on properties that also require a lot of our time and attention.  For us, it's even more critical that we first get, then remain, focussed and productive.  Without it, we're doomed to late nights in front of the computer, or hours away from our families.

I don't know about you, but that's definitely not the life I want.

The Wrap-up

Most of these are pretty basic business tips, but I can't tell you how many new entrepreneurs I've spoken to recently who find themselves overwhelmed, overcommitted and overly stressed!  By implementing these five tips, you'll be well on your way to having a homestead-based business that not only provides you with abundance financial rewards, but you'll reap countless benefits in the form of work that you love, and clients that you love to serve.

Now how can it get any better than that?

Do you have tips to share on making a living from your country home?  We'd love to hear!  Please share in the comments below ...

It's coming on summer - time for the mosquitoes and flies to begin their annual invasion.  And time to dig out the screen doors to check for holes and tears that would allow those voracious little bugs into the house to feast on your flesh!

If you live in the country, you know that trying to get through summer without a screen door is simply inviting a stress that absolutely no one needs. Honestly, I had no idea how miserable mosquitoes could be until I moved to our little cabin in the woods. So, after that first summer (and a zillion mosquito bites), we installed an inexpensive wooden screen door on each of our entrances. Now, ideally it would be great to just leave the screens on year-round, but our front porch is just too tiny to have room for putting on boots, taking off wet winter coats AND having space for the screen door to open. So we remove it every year. And of course, that means it's in storage, and subject to the abuse that comes with people rooting around the shed all winter. This year, it resulted in a number of holes and a stretched out screen.

So what do you do when you need to fix a screen door? Take it in for repair? Just replace the whole door? Or replace the screen yourself?

I chose the latter. Here's the process.

Step 1 - Buy the Materials

I visited our local building supply store one afternoon and picked up a ready-made screen repair kit.  It included the screen material (sized for a patio door), the spline (the material that holds the screen to the frame), the installation tool and a tiny razor knife.  Total cost?  $13 plus tax.  You can purchase kits in various sizes for windows and doors.  You can also purchase just the screen material, so if you have to do a repair in future, you won't have to purchase another kit because you'll already have the tools.

Step 2 - Remove the Screen

So came a sunny Saturday afternoon that seemed conducive to a screen door repair.  I laid the door out on the picnic table, opened up the kit, and checked the time: 2:23 pm.  I thought I'd be at it for 45 minutes or so, but it turned out to be much less time than that.

Most window/door screens are held in place with something called a 'spline'.  It's usually round in shape, flexible and compacts in order to create a nice, tight connection with the channel in the door.  It also works to pull the screen tight across the frame.  In my case, the spline that came with the repair kit was far too wide to fit into the narrow channel in my wooden screen door, but it would have worked great in an aluminum frame.  So what did I do?  I simply reused the spline from the existing screen install - it was a harder material than the spline in the kit (the black material in the photo above) and entirely reusable.

You simply pull out the spline, starting at one end - the screen is then loose and ready to be removed.  Just take it out, then clean out the channel if needed with some sort of brush (a paintbrush would probably work well).

Now you're ready for Step 3!

Step 3 - Install the New Screen

Open up your door screen material, and lay it over the frame, squared, ensuring you have at least 1" of overhang beyond the channel on all four sides (though more overhang is better if you can get it).

Now, starting in the bottom left corner of the door, insert the spline into the spline channel, using the installation tool from the kit to guide the spline securely across the short bottom of the door.  The action is a gentle pressure along with a 'dragging' of the tool along the spline.  You want a nice, smooth installation of the spline in to the channel.  While you're working, make sure the screen is squared on the frame, or your screen pattern will be crooked and likely to make you dizzy every time you look at it.

Tip: Make sure you use enough pressure on the installation tool - if the spline isn't installed tightly into the channel, the screen could slip out - definitely something you want to avoid, especially once you've trimmed the screen material itself. 

Once the bottom of the door is secure, work your way up the right side of the door.  When you reach the top, take a moment to gently pull the screen tight - you won't have to pull much, and you don't want to pull it too tight, or the spline won't push into the channel easily.

On the final side of the door, take a moment to again pull the screen tight across the door frame, gently, as you install the spline into the channel.  This will ensure you have a tight screen and not a droopy one.  When you reach the bottom left corner again, trim the spline using the razor knife and use the installation tool to finish up the install.

At this point, you should have a door that looks something like the photo above-left.

Tip: To ensure the spline is tightly in the channel and holding the screen firmly, go around the door again with the installation tool, pushing down any puckers. 

Step 4 - Trim

Congratulations - you're almost done!  

To finish up, take the razor knife from the kit and trim the excess screen material away from the outside edge of the spline channel.  Be very careful here that you don't pull to hard on the screen material - it can pop the spline out of the channel and mess up your entire job - or that you don't slice through spline itself, which could compromise its connection to the channel.  

Work your way around the entire door, remove the excess screen, and voila, you're done!  

Tip: You can use a fine razor knife of your own to do the trimming - I found the tiny knife included in the kit a bit difficult to put enough even pressure on to make a clean trim without my fingers cramping up.  I've got small fingers - I can't imagine someone with big hands using the included razor knife.  

Step 5 - Enjoy a Mozzy/Fly-free Summer!

Now all you have to do is put the door up and you can enjoy your home this summer without the maddening buzz and bite of flies and mosquitoes.  I find it also helps keep stray critters out of the house as well - it's amazing what will wander through a rural front door if it's wide open.  We've had hummingbirds, roaming dogs, a squirrel, and I'm sure other creatures I didn't know about, wander into our cabin over the past couple of years.  And now that we're getting chickens, I definitely don't want them taking up roost in my living room.  Yes, screen doors do more than keep out bugs!

The Wrap-up

All tolled, this project took me exactly 25 minutes, from the time I opened the screen repair kit package to the moment I turned the last screw into the door frame.  And it was enjoyable:  it was a lovely, sunny day, and I got the satisfaction of knowing I could do one more little task on my homestead.  Complicated?  No.  But it's a great feeling to be able to do these things yourself.

Do you have a simple repair job you do that you'd like to share?  We'd love to hear your stories and tips in the comments below!

Decorating a log cabin, particularly an antique log cabin, is both a joy and a challenge.  Joyful because there's just something about preserving the past and the countless hours of handwork required to construct the building in the first place, and a challenge because finding furniture and decor that look great with logs (without emptying your bank account), is not easy.

Sure, there are a gazillion companies out there manufacturing beautiful furniture and accessories that would make your old log cabin interior sing, but for anyone on a budget, it's just not practical.

So what's the alternative? 

In Part I of Mixing the Old and the New - Old Log Cabin Decor, I showed you how we were able to utilize a lot of recycled items and many of the architectural features of the antique log cabin we disassembled, reassembled, added on to, and restored back around 1999/2000. In this article, I'll show you how we were able to mix a number of thrift store, garage sale and Craigslist finds with the new furniture and accessories to create what we think is a fun, funky, comfortable and clean (read: unfrilly) country decor.

My Mother is a 'Perfect Log Cabin Decor Item' Magnet

There - the secret is out.  I don't spend hours scouring antique stores and Ebay (though I have been known to frequent those places for specific things - but more on that later).  Basically, my mother is an expert at finding unique, quality goods at garage sales and thrift stores.  She has this amazing way of magically coming across the absolute perfect item right when I need it... the exact thing I'm looking for to complete a room.

So when we were on the hunt for specific bits and pieces to finish up the cabin interior, all I had to say was:  "Mom, if you ever see a blankety-blank in chartreuse with blobs all over it (or whatever), grab it!" And then, lo and behold, a few days or a week later it arrived on my doorstep.  How she does it, I haven't a clue, but I'm so grateful she's got this magical talent.

Now, if you don't happen to have a magical magnet for a mother, there are other ways of finding that perfect light fixture or that plain white fabric shower curtain that will complement your cabin bathroom (which, weirdly, isn't that easy to find - the shower curtain, not the bathroom).

Here are a few items we use around our little house that we think look great, save space, and were either family heirlooms we had in storage, or didn't cost us a whack of dough.

Storage

When you live in a 650 square foot cabin, you need to be organized.  I don't know about you, but I don't want to look at ugly plastic bins and mismatched cheap baskets every day.  Instead, we found some lovely, inexpensive rectangular baskets where we store our candles, table linens, magazines, and odds and ends.  We pick them up when they're on sale at our local big-box store, and we've got them tucked everywhere.  I'd have loved to have found them second hand, but in searching, I've found that people only seem to give away baskets that just wouldn't work for our cabin decor, or that are total junk.  Needless to say, I can't imagine living in a small space without them - we have a sum total of zero closets, which is a perfect recipe for clutter.

In the kitchen, our water filter sits on a bedside table made by my grandfather back in the middle part of the last century.  The piece doubles as a cookbook shelf, but since I rarely cook, I could probably use it for something more practical!  And on the hutch where we keep all our dishes (also a 'freebie' - the hutch, not the dishes), I use a 5 gallon crock to store my coffee and teas, and a beautiful copper colander for a fruit bowl.  Both were second hand stores finds.  The counter stays tidy, and it matches the look and feel of our home.  I love it - because I despise cluttered counters. 

In the living room, which triples as the dining room, my office and my son's play space, everything has to be tucked away or my neat freak personality would go crazy.  So what to do?  I learned this trick many years ago, and have used it through many tiny apartments and a squishy townhouse - use a repurposed clothing armoire to keep everything neat and tidy. 

We don't have a television, so our iMac doubles as our entertainment centre, and it all gets tucked away when we're not using it - required when you live in a tiny house!  You can purchase purpose-built armoires for your office, but it's so easy to fix up an old one by adding a shelf or two and cutting a few holes in the back for cords, why would you bother?  Of course, you need the right tools, but it's a fairly easy conversion.  Add some paint to match your decor and voila!  You've got a tidy, efficient office you can 'put away' when company comes or you're just done with work and don't want to have to look at it.

Lighting

I have a weakness for old light fixtures, so finding the perfect one for our tiny, dark wood cabin without spending $150 or more was a bit of a challenge.  Magnet Mom to the rescue once again!  She found this lovely fixture at the thrift store.  I think it was still in it's original box, unused.  And while I wouldn't have considered it for my townhouse, it is PERFECT for our little cabin.  It's bright and lighthearted (we added the crazy crows to add a bit of kitsch), and while a more modern fixture, or something in black cast iron would have also been suitable, I love the light feeling that this one brings to the room.  And it couldn't have been cheaper unless it was free.

The lamps in the loft bedroom were also garage sale finds, as were the shades.  Lighting is an easy feature to deal with 'second hand', but sometimes takes a bit of searching.  Unless you've got a Magnet Mom, of course.

Firewood Storage

If you heat your house with wood, you know how messy it can be.  Sawdust, bugs and other crud... not exactly an aesthetic treasure (not to mention it tracks everywhere).  So we found a solution that I think looks neat, tidy, and a-propos for an antique house.  The daily firewood gets stored inside an old steamer trunk, which you can find at virtually any antique store for relatively little money (I think ours came from a garage sale).  And the kindling?  It sits in an antique copper pot - another thrift store find.  It works, and it looks great.

Fabrics

As I worked to pull the entire house together, decor-wise, the colour and texture of the fabrics we used became an important feature.  Sure, it would have been easy to just throw something on the bed, or get any old curtains, but you're talking to a detail freak here.  So again, a little more time and effort were expended, and it was so worth it.

We purchased a new, organic cotton duvet cover for the wool duvet in 'paprika', and organic cotton sheets and pillow cases in chartreuse (a great Pottery Barn find on eBay), which added a punch of colour to the potentially overwhelming wood textures in the house.  And over top of that, in the winter, I snuggle under a quilt made by my great-grandmother.  It's cozy, and looks beautiful.  In summer, it's tucked away into my grandmother's cedar chest, and we're back to punchy red with white linen.

Downstairs in the main living area, we purchased new stretchy slipcovers for the chairs (also on eBay), in red to match the rest of the accents in the cabin.  They're not ideal, as they slip a bit, but as a temporary solution, they've worked really well.  And I can remove them to wash - important when you live surrounded by mud and trees.

The curtains are a plain, untextured cotton, and also thrift store finds.  I wanted something white and bright, and plain in texture - there are so many textures in this building (the wood, the floors, the chinking), that textures in the drapes would have been overwhelming (at least in my opinion).

It's Not as Easy as Just Going to the Store, But It's More Interesting - and Fun!

So, yes, it takes a bit more work to outfit a house with second hand or clearance items that also look great.  Between online research, constant checking of Craigslist (I really wish they'd develop some sort of notification system for specific searches - do they have that?) and eBay, and scouring of second hand stores, it takes some effort - but it's so worth the end results.  And it's kind of fun, as you never know what you'll find (there's nothing like living in a home filled with history and stories).

Best of all, you save a lot of cash - which you can then spend on something more practical, like your emergency food stores, creating a cold room for food storage, purchasing an efficient wood stove, or building your home based business.

Then again, if you're lucky and have a Magnet Mom, it really takes no time at all...

Do you have any ideas for decorating an old log cabin on a budget?  Let us know in the comments below! 

I love looking through home decor magazines, with all those houses that sprawl over thousands of square feet, or have been recently renovated to the tune of $200K.  Closets and nifty storage units spill out from the pages, beautiful rolling drawers are tucked into every nook and cranny, and everything has a place.  For someone who loves efficient storage and likes to know where everything is, it's organizational nirvana.

Unfortunately, I don't live in one of those homes.

My little house is precisely 650 square feet (give or take) and features absolutely zero closet space.  It's a restored 80+ year old homesteader's cabin, and, well, homesteaders didn't have a lot of stuff – hence, no closets!  Flash forward 80 years, and it's current owner has so much stuff that all her furniture is in storage with her ex (lucky him) and friends, and the rest is in her parents' attic.  And that's after paring down over the years.  While I'm not a 'collector' of things – when you live in small spaces, you simply can't be – I still have 'stuff'.

So what do you do when you have an average amount of 'things', a home business, a child, a penchant for things looking nice and neat – and you live in a sweet little house with no closets?  I'll tell you what I did – and it didn't cost a lot, nor did we have to undermine the integrity of the heritage structure we live in by adding built-in storage.

Armoires Are Your Friends

I don't know what I'd do without armoires.

I've got several and because I've always lived in small spaces, they've been a terrific help in keeping things neat and tidy.  They're ideal for use as office space, coat closets, arts/camera/games supply cupboards... whatever you might need space for.  And they come in so many different shapes, sizes and styles, you're bound to find one to suit your decor.  Most of mine have been with me for years, though I did buy a new one for our 'coat closet' when we moved into our little cabin.

Now, buying new is always fun and infinitely simpler, but I'll let you in on a little secret - your best deals can be found on Craigslist and at garage sales.  While it takes a little longer than just picking one up at the store, you're bound to find antique treasures, beautiful hand-crafted pieces and high-end designer units for a fraction of the price of new.  Worth the extra effort, I think.

In short, without armoires, my little house would be a mess - they're such a necessity for us.  Chances are they will work for you too.

Baskets = Brilliant

Baskets - such a brilliant invention.

Now, I'm not just talking any old baskets, but beautiful, well built square or rectangular baskets that fit together nicely and are stackable.  I've got three different styles in our house, and they all coordinate with the others.  The big sturdy ones I pick up at our local big box store when they go on sale (which is actually fairly often), and the smaller, more colourful baskets were purchased inexpensively at Pier 1.  Add to that a couple of bolga baskets (those gorgeous market baskets from Africa) for some of my son's toys and my mending and knitting projects, and we're pretty well set.  For me, baskets are like the armoires - indispensible.  To be able to have little things out in the open without it looking messy is such such a gift.  And things just don't get lost as easily!  Now that's helpful when you're running out the door and can't find that movie you need to return to the video store...

What's Hiding Under the Stairs

In our little house, we have a set of open-riser stairs going up to the loft.  The stairs were left open to keep the main room lighter and airier, but it created some issues when I decided I'd use the space for storage of bins that are, shall I say, less attractive than all those beautiful baskets (I'm talking Rubbermaid totes and those clear closet storage bins).  Essentially, it's an 'under stairs closet'.  So what we did was create fabric pieces to fit the openings, and simply pinned them up with flat, white, metal tacks, leaving the bottoms free for access.  Now, obviously this technique has its limitations (and weirdly, getting the right shape for the triangle was incredibly difficult - apparently pattern-makers we are not!!), but it works for us for now.  One day, we might frame in the stair risers and put proper doors on the openings, but for now, this works, and it didn't cost a penny outside of my mother's time to sew the panels.  Thanks, Mom!

No More Tripping Over Shoes

I have a pet peeve about shoes lying all over an entrance way.  When you live in a tiny house, it's not just annoying, but downright dangerous - tripping and falling where there's a sharp corner within two feet in every direction is not a safe proposition.  In our case, we employed the old food cupboard from the original homestead as a shoe closet.  It sits on the front porch and acts as a repository for all the boots and shoes we aren't using imminently.  Keeps us tidy and safe, plus it adds to the historical feel of the house and is a bit of a conversation piece.  The cupboard was without any rot after 80 years of damp west coast weather, so it would have been silly not to use it.  You could use any small cupboard, really, or something purpose-built for shoes. It doesn't really matter, so long as it keeps your shoes neat and tidy.

As with armoires, shoe cabinets are easy to find on Craigslist without a lot of effort.  Worth checking out - unless, of course, you enjoy tripping over shoes...

Chests as Linen Closets

With no closet space, I wasn't sure where to store all of our spare linens, wool blankets, and the like.  The little house had a few mice scurrying about when we moved in, so I wanted to make sure all the antique linens were secure from the teeth of tiny four-legged critters.  Fortunately, I have a cedar chest that was my grandmother's and that my dad re-skinned for me many, many years ago.  It now sits proudly in the loft and stores all our linens and traveling gear (backpacks, linen bags, etc.).  It works out well, but honestly, it could stand to be about two feet longer.  Or maybe I should just get rid of a few things...  Needless to say, you can find these pieces pre-owned for a steal in most cities and towns.  It's amazing how much great furniture people get rid of on a regular basis.

The Wrap-Up

So there you have it!  You might have to spend a bit of time and energy on finding the right armoire, baskets or shoe cabinets for your space, but the results - no longer tripping over piles of stuff, or struggling to remember where you last saw your car keys - are worth every penny.

Do you have any unique ideas for storage in small spaces?  Share them below - we'd love to hear!

You can see all the photos on our main blog: modernhomesteading.ca.  

Decorating a heritage log cabin in a modern, chic kind of way is challenging, to say the least.

That fact became clear when my big, gorgeous distressed brown leather couch refused to fit through the narrower-than-standard door.

Then the matching chair didn't fit either.

As you can imagine, moving the contents of an urban townhouse into an 80-year old log cabin wasn't exactly easy.  For the most part, the furniture just didn't match the new environment - at all. A few pieces made the transition, but most ended up in storage.

So how do you decorate a funky old house – a tiny, 650 square foot log cabin at that – with a great sense of style, and without breaking the bank buying all new furniture?

I'm no interior decorator, but I do think I have a pretty good eye for design.  And for making the best of a few basic pieces.  So when we moved into our little cabin in the woods (almost wrote 'weeds', but that would be true too!), it was 'game on'.  I was up for the challenge and loved the fact that I had so many pieces to work with that had such a rich history.

Setting the Stage

To set the stage, or the 'palette' of the decor, there was the house itself.

Built around an 80-plus year old homesteader's log cabin that we disassembled, reassembled and restored (with the addition of a loft and a lean-to kitchen and bathroom), the cabin is really a marvel of 'do-it-yourself' ingenuity.  To think a lone man hand-hewed all of these heavy fir logs himself (and they are HEAVY) is remarkable.  I can't imagine the effort that must have gone into building it.  But as lovely and full of life as logs are, they definitely limit the decor options.  So I took this all into account and decided to go with a sort of modern country, clean-lined shabby chic sort of look.

In the interior of the house, we used theoriginal front door from the old cabin 'pre-restoration' as the new bathroom door, and the old homesteader's single kitchen cupboard as our shoe and boot cabinet on the porch.  I love the fact we were able to use some of these items as features in the 'new' house.  You can see the initials of the man I purchased the cabin from poked into the old door (he spent a lot of time in the cabin when he was a child, as his family owned the property it sat on). I love that sense of history.

The Bathroom

There were a few pieces that 'came with' the cabin that worked perfectly with my new ideas.  One was a hand-made cabinet that we turned into a vanity in the bathroom.  We added a modern new sink and an antique picture frame-turned-medicine cabinet, along with the clawfoot tub, white shower curtains, silver surrounds and a big nickel rainshower shower head to turn the bathroom into a tiny oasis of heritage and modern convenience.

The Kitchen

Before the renovation, the kitchen was pretty rustic.  Coming from a sleek white and stainless steel kitchen in the city, I was at a bit of a loss for what to do with this galley-shaped space.  But we're lucky enough to have a very talented carpenter renting on our property and he built us a set of kitchen cabinets out of scrap wood and old louvered doors that could not better match the cabin's decor.  He added a hand-built spruce countertop and the antique cast iron sink and drainboard... and I love it.

Furniture and Decor

We had a lot of fun finding furniture and decor items to pull the whole look together.  Some of the furniture was already in the cabin (it had been a rental for a few years).  So we bought some new slipcovers and voila!  A whole new look.  We painted the dark oak table and bookshelf with glossy white paint, installed white tabbed curtains throughout that we found at the thrift store and painted the armoire trim black to match the curtain rods, dark beams and metal.

The only new items we purchased were the baker's rack hangers from Ikea to use as hangers for our art wall, a beautiful black purpose-built armoire for our coat closet, and a gorgeous black timber platform bed for the loft that has the same hand-hewn look as the timbers that support the entire building.

So as you can see, log cabin decor doesn't have to be dark, frilly or boring.  With a bit of imagination, a good eye, and a few nice pieces, you can bring an old heritage cabin into the 21st century without losing its hand-hewn charm.  In our next post, I'll show you the heirloom items that put the finishing touches on the cabin decor.

I’m a lucky duck.  When I decided it was time to pack up city life and settle onto a rural property, I had land to come to – a homestead site purchased by my family probably 15 years prior.

But what if you don’t have that plot to escape to and the economy has taken the wind out of your property purchasing sails?  Here are a few ideas to ponder that just might get you from city lot to rural acreage faster than you think:

Group Purchase

I considered this for years before we actually moved, as the property we’re currently on isn’t exactly my ‘dream’ land (though it’s getting closer as time passes).  Do you have friends with a similar dream of rural bliss?  Maybe relatives looking to invest in rural real estate?  Or maybe look into the rural land co-ops that are forming all over (though co-ops are not for everyone).  Start by making a list of everyone you know who might be interested in such an arrangement, then figure out what you would want out of the deal and what you could offer your ‘investors’, and go for it!

For us, group purchase wasn’t the right solution, but for you it just might be ideal.

Renting

I would recommend this for anyone – rent a home in the town you’ve chosen to settle into before you actually buy.  And not just for a couple of months, but for six months to a year.  There’s nothing like having your romantic visions of rural life shattered by neighbours engaging in illegal activity or finding out your well water is contaminated with arsenic.  Bottom line?  There are things about a community you simply can’t learn by visiting on weekends or even talking to the locals.  When we arrived in the town we currently live in, I’d been gone for 22 years and really hadn’t a clue how things ‘worked’.  And honestly, I couldn’t imagine what we’d do with ourselves to keep busy.

Now, two and a half years later, I can’t imagine living anywhere else, but I’m still discovering the depths and breadth of the community.  I haven’t even begun to tap into it, really.  But I’ve heard of many others who bought homes here, then discovered after a year or two that rural living just wasn’t for them.  Unfortunately, at that point they were stuck with houses they couldn’t sell and had to stay in a town they weren’t happy with until the real estate market turned around.  In other words, lots of stress that could have been avoided by taking time to figure out if it really was the ‘right place’ for them before making the financial investment.  If they’d rented, they could have just packed up and left.

Property Caretaking

This is a world I knew absolutely nothing about until I ran into a gentleman in a coffee shop one morning and started chatting.  Turns out there’s a whole group of men and women (often couples) who live in amazing locales, looking after the stunning vacation homes of the very wealthy.  Apparently many of these folks only visit their properties a couple of times per year, so the caretakers are essentially left with an amazing property all to themselves much of the year.  Of course, there are certain skills required, from carpentry and landscaping to business management and security, but for the right people, it’s an ideal way to have both your expenses covered AND learn about your potential new community.  You can find out more about caretaking here:  Top 10 Websites to Find a Property Caretaking Job 

Settling Recreational Property

Maybe you have friends or family with recreational property sitting unused?  Ponder coming up with some sort of agreement with them for you to put up a temporary structure (yurt, kit home on a platform, etc. – something you could move to a new property later, or sell them when you leave in exchange for rent) for a specific period of time, with options to extend your stay if everything works out.  There’s countless acres of land and untold numbers of buildings sitting unused most of the year throughout North America, I can’t believe more people don’t do this.  Of course you need to find owners open enough for such an arrangement, but it could easily work out well for everyone – you get to live in the country, and they have someone keeping an eye on things.

The Wrap-up

Of course, there are tax and legal implications for all of the above scenarios, but none of them are insurmountable.  The idea is to get creative with your thinking – there’s always, always a way to live the life you want!  Maybe not as easy as purchasing your own property, but in some cases, you may be better off ‘testing the waters’ first.  Then you’ll know you made the right decision and can settle into your new life with the knowledge that you know what you’re getting yourself into.

Then again, no matter how much preparation you do, it’s always an adventure.  But your dream life is within grasp – you just need to get out there and grab it.

Do you have any other ideas for getting onto a rural property without a big investment?  If so, please share them in the comments below! 

As an urbanite, I had this long-held dream of homesteading, of living off our own rural property, collecting eggs from our free ranging chickens, picking and putting up our own organic vegetables and fruit, and working from home. I think I even romanticized it a bit (ahem...). The reality of rural living, of course, was a little different.

I'll start by telling you that I’m an individualist at heart. Only recently have I learned to ask for help when I can’t figure something out. My usual modus operandi is to just hunker down in front of the computer (I design websites for a living, so there’s LOTS of 'hunkering' going on) and sift through blog posts and tutorials til I figure it out. Now, that works for website building, but for homesteading and rural living skills? Not so much.

Back in early 2009 when we moved into our little homestead (and for years before), I spent a LOT of time studying, reading, and taking courses and workshops on a zillion different topics related to modern homesteading, rural living, and self-sufficiency. Books, blogs, website forums, you name it… I visited and studied so many I lost track of who said what.

Then one day after we moved into our little cabin, I realized something: I didn’t even know how to start a fire. You know, so it would stay lit.

Sure, I’d read about it, watched some online tutorials (if you can believe it), but I’d never actually started one myself. It was a complete mystery to me, and to be honest, freaked me out a little bit. And because I was so afraid of looking stupid, I remember distinctly being a bit offended when my dad came down and showed me how to build a fire like I was a little kid who’d never lit one before. But truth was I hadn’t, and of course, didn’t want to admit it. I told him I ‘got it’ and then tried to start a fire after he left. It petered out so fast you’d have hardly known there was a match near the thing. Needless to say I had to go back and ask him for another lesson - clearly all that book/web learning I’d done didn’t apply to our particular geography, climate and firewood. So after feeling like a schmuck for not knowing how to do something simple like start a fire, I’m here to tell you that there is nothing, absolutely nothing, that will get your skills upgraded fast than working with a mentor.

I’ve been incredibly lucky when it comes to mentors. Not only did I find one, but in our little corner of the world, I managed to connect with many. My dad turned out to be a HUGE source of skill-building information and lessons: basic carpentry, wood heating systems operation and maintenance, how to look after a shake roof, basic plumbing, water well maintenance, back-up power systems… it’s crazy how much that man knows! I never really appreciated it before, but I sure do now.

And then there is Robin Wheeler, who I’m very much blessed to know. She’s the author of Food Security for the Faint of Heart and Gardening for the Faint of Heart, and she has been an absolute godsend when it comes to connecting with the people who have the skills I need to know. Through Robin’s Sustainable Living Arts School, I’ve learned how to make saurkraut, prepare herbal wound ointment, grow perennial food plants, and store up vegetables and fruit for winter.  And a whole bunch of other skills (like how to build an outhouse – important when the pipes freeze).  Her knowledge is both vast and deep, and without her I wouldn’t have developed the confidence to go down this road.  Actually, I think I’d probably be living in an apartment instead of in our cozy cabin in the woods.  My friend Liz has also turned out to be a fabulous resource, with all her wisdom on growing food and making things look stylish while staying low on the consumption scale. And then there’s our former raw dairy agister, Alice, who showed me that women can run one heck of a business, homeschool their children and maintain a relationship and social network.  Valuable lessons, all.

These are my most prolific mentors, and the ones I have seen and talked to often, but there are so many more – on blogs and websites across the internet, the modern homesteading heroes are there, sharing their knowledge and clearing the way for others like us. So if you’re thinking of moving to the country, or you’ve already moved and are wondering ‘what next’, I can highly recommend finding yourself a mentor. Look in your local community guides for workshops, or ask at the farmer’s market for those who have the skills you’re looking to gain. Weirdly, I’ve also found the local coffee shop where all the ‘elders’ hang out in the morning is a brilliant place to connect. If you start talking to people, generally someone will know someone who can show you exactly what it is you want to learn.

So here I am, two years into my homesteading journey. I’ve learned so much and feel infinitely more confident about my abilities than I did. But there’s so much more to learn, and I’m sure I’ll be learning during this entire journey, maybe getting proficient at a few things, maybe even to the point where I could say I know what I’m doing! But there’s one thing I know for sure – that my mentors will always be a huge part of my journey, and that without them, I’d be floundering around, making more mistakes than necessary and probably getting frustrated and possibly even giving up. But that’s not going to happen. I’ve got too many amazing people around me.

And my fire building skills since I swallowed my pride and asked for a repeat lesson? We haven’t had a chilly night since.

Who are your mentors?  I’d love to hear your stories …

I'll admit it - I'm a neat freak.

And having a dislike of house dirt while living in the country is, let's say, a bit of a challenge.

Dirt sitting in places it shouldn't be drives me crazy (dirt outside where it grows lovely things does not, fortunately!).  Same goes for clutter.  And I'm not ashamed of it, much to the chagrin of those around me who enjoy a more, shall we say 'lived in' approach to home care.  There's just something that feels right to me about a clean, uncluttered house.  Not everyone has the same obsession, and that's OK.  I'm comfortable with my need for clean!

Now, living in a country house while building a self-sufficient lifestyle can invite a lot of dirt, muck and clutter - not so comfortable for someone who likes things orderly.  Where we live on the west coast of Canada, it rains 1300 mm (51 inches) a year, more or less... mostly it feels like 'more'.  That means a lot of mud and crud.  Add to that my parents' dog (I do love you Katie!) bursting through the door looking for her favourite buddy, bringing sand and muddy paws in with her, and you've got a recipe for constant cleaning.  Then there's the biggest challenge of living in a small rural home - the lack of 'space'.  All those beekeeping books, Mother Earth News and Grit magazines have to go somewhere... not to mention all my son's dragons and dinosaurs.  Without some attention paid to storage and organizing, the house could get incredibly cluttered incredibly quickly.

So how does a neat freak stay sane living in a country home, without spending hours a day cleaning or completely giving up, living in filth and tripping endlessly over stray tyrannosaurs?

There are definitely a few tricks, and I'd love to share a few of them with you.  I've arranged them by topic based on the things I find myself cleaning and organizing most often in our cabin in the woods:

Floor Dirt

It goes without saying that a house surrounded by gardens and gravel will end up with dirt inside.  But there is a way to keep it in check without having to haul out the vacuum every day.  I've got a simple Asian broom (since I have no broom closet, this looks nicer in the corner than the plastic variety) I use to do a daily sweep, and have a few colorful cotton and hemp rugs in strategic spots on the floor that I can easily shake outside, then throw in the wash when they get dirty.  I love wool rugs - I've got a few gorgeous ones in storage - but they're just not practical... unless you have a penchant for dry cleaning bills.  And it goes without saying that shoes stay outside or go in the armoire - they're definitely not worn in the house, nor left strewn about by the front door.  We'd be tripping over them, and the dirt would be everywhere.  Finally, an effective, attractive doormat outside the front door - one that can be washed - makes a huge difference to the amount of dirt that ends up inside the house.  With these tactics in place, I'm not constantly washing the floor, which is great, because there are so many other things I'd rather do with my time!

Cobwebs

If there's one thing that shocked me about moving to a house in the country, it was the cobwebs.  They seem to spring up instantaneously after vacuuming.  In fact, last fall, we really didn't need Halloween decorations.  The cobwebs appeared so quickly and so fiercely that it was all I could do to keep them from weaving themselves into new drapes.  Leave the 'clearing' for two days and I was living on the set of a horror movie.  So how does one battle the webs of armies of spiders you can't see?  I guess you could get rid of the spiders, but I kind of like the fact they're on patrol, catching all the other bugs that could actually do damage (ants, moths, wood bugs).  I won't use toxic insecticides, anyway, so I'm sort of stuck with them.  The best way I've found to deal with the cobweb draperies is with one of those cylindrical dusters (wool or polyester) attached to a telescoping handle you can buy at most hardware stores.  This allows me to reach up to the peak of the cathedral ceiling - way beyond where the vacuum can reach.  Then I just vacuum the duster off after each clearing.  The cylindrical duster works great for flat walls, but no so well on rough, hand-hewn logs, so for the walls I use the flat floor attachment on the vacuum.  This keeps us pretty well cobweb free for most of the year - in the fall, I just have to do double duty... or pretend we live on a movie set.

Bugs

Creepy crawlies creep a lot of people out.  When we first moved into our cabin, we were finding cave crickets in the oddest places, and there were wood bugs everywhere.  Maybe it was a 'spring' thing, but after living here for awhile, and allowing the spiders to do what spiders do, we seem to have less and less bugs.  We do, however, get big brown house spiders that give me the willies.  They have a habit of crawling on the ceiling right above the bed as we're going to sleep at night.  Needless to say, I've become a bit of a spider wrangler - into a plastic bucket with a piece of cardstock to keep them from escaping and outside they go.  Sealing up any insect access points, keeping food secure and ensuring there is no rot in your home will go a long way in keeping the bugs at bay.  Finally, screen doors are critical in our mosquito infested corner of the world, and they keep out the flies and other flying bugs.  I purchased some cheap wood screen doors that fit with the look of the cabin, and they've been more than adequate for the job.  Living in the city, we just didn't have many bugs.  Flies, and the odd ant, but that was about it.  In the country, it's a whole other story.

Mice

I've written previously about mice in the house, so won't expand on it (you can read the original article Reducing Your Kitchen's Attraction Factor here).  That said, do know that mice are ubiquitous in the country, and that they're actually sort of cute.  Messy, but cute.  Best way to keep them from making a mess in your house is to ensure anything edible is sealed up, vacuum regularly, check drawers and other places they might try to nest, and don't discourage predators like owls, hawks and other animals who like mouse snacks.  Of course, if you have chickens, some of those predators may not be welcome, but that's a balancing act for another article.  Some have suggested peppermint in sachets or peppermint essential oil in the corners mice frequent, but I haven't tried that yet.

Clutter

If you're lucky enough to have a larger home in the country, this won't be as much of an issue, but even still, living on a homestead can mean collecting books, storing food, and keeping your toolshed stocked with extra handles and equipment.  If you're a neat-freak like me, you need a plan and a method of keeping it all organized.  Inside the cabin, we use baskets, armoires, and under-stair storage to keep small items both concealed and easily accessible.  Outside, we built a new storage shed complete with hangers, racks and shelves for food and tool storage.  Bottom line - the more stuff you have, the more time and energy it takes to look after it.  I actually find it a blessing to live in a tiny home, as it keeps me from collecting stuff I don't need.  That said, I do have some lovely furniture in storage I'd love to have room for...  One day.

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Even though keeping a country house clean and organized is a bit of a challenge, especially when storage space is at a premium, it's well worth the effort.  And by following some of the tips listed above, it's easier than you might imagine.

Now, time for me to go remove the cobweb drapery from the ceiling fan.