Author Archives: Janelle

Getting Ready For Plaster

Posted on July 30, 2016 | Leave a comment
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We’re still working on our straw bale guest cabin.  As you probably know, things don’t always go according to plan or go as quickly as you’d like them to go.  The bales were stacked and ready for the welded wire in December.  Winter is very mild here in southern Missouri, and we thought we could put the lime plaster up before the weather got too cold.  But as the night time lows dipped around freezing, we realized that we were just going to have to wait for warmer weather.  There always other projects to do around here, so work on the guest cabin slowed to working on it on rainy days.  Several other projects took priority and have been completed.  Our focus has returned to the guest cabin as we’re nearly ready to get started on our actual house!   It’s time to get this cabin done!

 

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Surviving Summer

Posted on July 24, 2016 | 6 comments

drinkHomestead in the Holler is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

 

The heat of summer is upon us!  It’s the time of year when many people retreat into their air conditioned homes to keep cool and comfortable.  But what would you do if you didn’t have air conditioning?

When we lived in Colorado, we did not have air conditioning.  Sure, it got hot during the day, but the nights were always cool and there was no humidity.  Our house was also positioned in a way that the afternoon sun didn’t shine into our house during the summer. We were quite comfortable and didn’t even think about needing air conditioning.

Fast forward to the beautiful Ozarks.  We are currently living in a trailer house until we finish building our house.  Trailer houses are poorly insulated and tend to act like an oven in the summer heat. And the humidity!  Everything melts in the humidity, people included.  We soon found ways to not only survive an Ozark summer, but to enjoy it without central air.

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Posted in Farm Life

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Hugelkultur Garden Beds

Posted on May 14, 2016 | 22 comments
Building Hugelkultur Garden BedsHomestead in the Holler is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

 

One of the first things that I wanted to do when we moved to our homestead was to get a garden started.  It was the beginning of August, but I had dreams of a fall garden.  After attempting to dig a few small beds, I realized just how rocky and hard the soil was!  There is a lot of clay content in our soil, and a LOT of rocks.  I did plant a few odds and ends, which did grow and we got a few things out of the garden that fall.  But I knew that we could make it much better.

 

It was time to think about raised beds.  More specifically, hugelkultur beds.

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Posted in Garden, Permaculture

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Getting started without permanent fencing

Posted on April 12, 2016 | 4 comments

Getting started on the homestead without permanent fencing

Homestead in the Holler is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

When we purchased our farm in the summer of 2014, we knew we had a lot of work ahead of us.  Our farm had a lot of barns, most in disrepair.  The fencing wasn’t much better.  There was a lot of barbed wire, some of it was in good shape but most of the fence was in desperate need of repair.  There were some rotten posts, holes in parts of the fence, the entire fence down in other areas.  Despite all of this, we were eager to get started adding animals as soon as possible.  We wanted to add sheep, goats, cattle and pigs to our farm.

From the beginning we knew that we wanted to practice rotational grazing with all of our animals. Rotational grazing involves moving livestock to fresh paddocks to allow the grass in the previous paddocks to grow back. How frequently you move your livestock depends on your situation and can range from a couple of times a day, to once a week.  Electric fencing is often used in rotational grazing systems, with a permanent perimeter fence.  Electric fencing seemed like a good solution to our fencing issues.  The decision was made to use temporary electric fence exclusively until we could get some permanent fence built. 

 

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Posted in Animals, Farm Life, Homesteading

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Reasons For Trees

Posted on February 12, 2016 | 4 comments

 

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Have you ever not appreciated something until you didn’t have it?  I have lived in wooded areas most of my life, but never really thought about trees and the benefit of trees until we moved to Colorado.  Sure we lived in a Ponderosa Pine forest, but it was a dry climate and not much else grew.  The ranches there were dry with a rare tree in the pastures. It wasn’t until we moved to southern Missouri and saw the variety of trees that grow here that I started to think about all the benefits wooded areas on your homestead or farm brings.  

Trees are beautiful and majestic, but their benefits are often overlooked. While it is important to keep the woods from taking over pastures, trees are an asset to your farm or homestead.  

Here are Some reasons why you should have trees on your homestead.

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Posted in Homesteading

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The Chicken Coop: “Coop Deville”

Posted on January 7, 2016 | 13 comments

The Coop Deville: A mobile chicken coop

Homestead in the Holler is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

When we moved to Missouri we had to leave our mobile chicken coop, “The Eggmobile” (a la Joel Salatin) behind.   Travis had designed and built that coop, but it was just too big to move from Colorado to Missouri.  We sold the chicken coop to a good friend and decided to build another coop similar to what we had had before.  A mobile chicken coop was a requirement for us, we wanted the chickens to follow the livestock for pasture sanitation and fertilization.

 

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Posted in Animals, Farm Life, Homesteading

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Straw Bale Cabin Update

Posted on December 17, 2015 | 2 comments
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As you may know, we are building a small straw bale guest cabin as a trial run before building our straw bale house.  The original plan was to get our house weathered in before winter.  Between the weather, other jobs requiring attention on the homestead and life in general, we’re still working on the guest cabin and haven’t started on the house.  We have done enough remodeling and other building projects to know that this is par for the course.  The new goal is to complete the house in 2016! 

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Posted in Straw Bale Building, Update

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Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies

Posted on December 8, 2015 | 3 comments

 

 

Chocolate Candy Cane CookiesHomestead in the Holler is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

 

It’s the time of year when nearly everything has a peppermint twist.  Pair chocolate and peppermint together and you have a winner!   I love chocolate and peppermint together.  Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies fit right into the season of peppermint.  With double chocolate and candy cane pieces sprinkled on top, these cookies are a decadent treat.

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Posted in Homemade, Recipes

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Goats Gone Wild!

Posted on November 13, 2015 | 5 comments

 

goats2

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We have been using electric fencing to keep our Kiko goats in all spring and summer, moving them at least once a week or more often to make sure they have plenty of food to eat.  We don’t have goat proof perimeter fencing, some areas have no fencing at all.  We are working to remedy that problem, but have had pretty good luck so far.

Suddenly it was fall.  The leaves started to change colors into a beautiful world.   A beautiful world where the goat’s favorite foods (brambles and woody plants)  are losing leaves.  The goats suddenly had to be moved every other day, they would eat every edilble thing they could find, and fast!  We were watching the goats and their food supply closely, but one Wednesday afternoon when Travis and I went to move the goats, the goats were gone!

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Posted in Animals, Farm Life

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A Book Review of ‘The Organic Canner’

Posted on October 22, 2015 | Leave a comment

organic_canner

Homestead in the Holler is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

I love to cook healthy meals from scratch and can fruits and vegetables for my family.  So when I was given the privilege to review Daisy Luther’s book, The Organic Canner, I was excited!  I’m always looking for new canning recipes.  I was not disappointed.

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