Category Archives: Farm Life

Hi! Around here I wear many hats. Homesteader, farmer, homemaker, homeschool mom, gardener and builder. We strive for a simple, self-sufficient life on our little piece of paradise. Read more

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Posted in Farm Life

Tagged farm, farm goals, farm life, focus on homestead, homestead, homestead goals, homestead life, new years goal, simple life, simplify, simplify life

NRCS High Tunnel

Posted on December 21, 2018 by Janelle | 5 comments

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.

One of our big summer projects this year was building a high tunnel. A high tunnel has been on our want list since we moved to our farm in 2014. A high tunnel is essentially a large greenhouse in a hoop shape. They come in all sizes, from small to very large. There are some nice advantages to using a high tunnel, including controlling temperature, erosion and water. In some areas of the US, winter gardening becomes possible, even with an unheated high tunnel. The winter gardening is what we’re the most interested in.

Hi! Around here I wear many hats. Homesteader, farmer, homemaker, homeschool mom, gardener and builder. We strive for a simple, self-sufficient life on our little piece of paradise. Read more

5 Comments

Posted in Farm Life, Garden, Homesteading

Tagged greenhouse, high tunnel, high tunnel for free, NRCS high tunnel grant, putting up high tunnel

Electric fencing supplies

Posted on October 26, 2018 by Janelle | 3 comments

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.

On our farm, we practice rotational grazing while still getting our perimeter fencing fixed up. This means that we use a lot of electric fence. We have purchased a lot of movable fence posts, poly wire and reels and have found that they are not all created equally. If you’re getting started with electric fencing, it’s good to know what do you really need and what works. Here is the supply list of what you need to get started and our top picks of what we use.

Hi! Around here I wear many hats. Homesteader, farmer, homemaker, homeschool mom, gardener and builder. We strive for a simple, self-sufficient life on our little piece of paradise. Read more

3 Comments

Posted in Animals, Farm Life

Tagged electric fence, electric fencing, electronet fencing, poly wire, polywire, solar fence charger, supplies for electric fence, supplies for rotational grazing

Reality of Homesteading

Posted on July 31, 2017 by Janelle | 15 comments

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.

As I was milking our Jersey, Spark, the other evening, I was thinking about how this was what I dreamed about for years. Living off the land, growing our food and getting milk from our own cow. Life is good! And then Spark swatted me in the face with her tail.

Everyone glosses over the realities of homesteading/farming. They show the good, happy parts of farm life and skip over the not so great stuff that nobody really wants to hear about. We’re shown the end result, the glass of milk or a clean basket of eggs, and all the stuff that happens beforehand isn’t mentioned. But isn’t the end result, the glass of milk and fresh eggs, the point? Yes, it is and it’s certainly the reward for a job well done. However, there is a romanticized view of homesteading these days. The white picket fence, well behaved animals, a perfectly weeded garden, cooking from scratch and still have time to sit on the porch with a glass of lemonade is what’s often portrayed on the internet. Getting swatted in the face by a cow’s tail or cleaning out the chicken coop that will really start to stink to high heaven if you don’t clean it, isn’t what you read about. While I love this life, there are some realities that are part of it; sweat, dirt, bugs and poop. Lots of poop.

Hi! Around here I wear many hats. Homesteader, farmer, homemaker, homeschool mom, gardener and builder. We strive for a simple, self-sufficient life on our little piece of paradise. Read more

15 Comments

Posted in Farm Life, Homesteading

Tagged benefits of homesteading, drawbacks of homesteading, homesteading, realities of farming, realities of homesteading

Chores with a Toddler

Posted on January 14, 2017 by Janelle | Leave a comment

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 our third child was born, I was determined to get back to my normal routine of caring for animals and gardening as soon as I could. Being outside is my happy place. I was able to get my chores and gardening done with my baby by babywearing. I wore my baby every day for the first 2 years of her life. When she was about 2 1/2 years old, I stopped wearing her on my back daily. My little adventurer wanted to explore and didn’t want to always be stuck on mama’s back. When I did put her on my back, she felt very heavy and would throw her weight around which would sometimes throw me off balance. Sadly, I had to admit that my baby wearing days were over.

This new phase of life definitely put a wrinkle in being active outside on the farm, but I was determined to continue to be outside, caring for the animals and tending the garden. Plus, I really, REALLY want my little girl to love the farm. She is so interested in everything that is going on around her, the animals, the vegetables and flowers, I don’t want to squash that.

How can you get farm chores and gardening done with an active toddler?

Hi! Around here I wear many hats. Homesteader, farmer, homemaker, homeschool mom, gardener and builder. We strive for a simple, self-sufficient life on our little piece of paradise. Read more

Eating Well in Rural America

Posted on October 29, 2016 by Janelle | 1 comment

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.

Eating real food with real ingredients is a priority for our family. Before we moved to the Ozarks, we lived outside a large city where organic produce and meat was not hard to find. The prices were reasonable since there was a demand for organic food.

We moved to an area of the country where the organic food movement is just now trickling in. It was definitely an eye opener to see how spoiled we were, with pretty much anything we wanted just a 10 minute drive away. There are grocery stores that sell organic meat and produce about an hour away, which we do go to if we happen to need to go to the city for other reasons. However we prefer to stay on the farm and avoid unnecessary running around as much as possible.

how do we eat well in rural America when organic food isn’t readily available?

Hi! Around here I wear many hats. Homesteader, farmer, homemaker, homeschool mom, gardener and builder. We strive for a simple, self-sufficient life on our little piece of paradise. Read more

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Posted in Farm Life, Homemade, Wellness

Tagged cook from scratch, eat local, eating well, eating well in rural America, food co-op, grow your own, local food, organic food, real food, real food in rural America

The House Design

Posted on August 5, 2016 by Travis | 7 comments

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.

We have spent about 2 years on our farm now and are at the point where we are ready to build a house. It took about that long to get a feel for the best siting and to get various other prerequisite projects completed, such as a barn to store the straw bales. This has given us some time to think about what we really want. Here are some of the things we considered in our design.

Travis

Computer engineer turned full time farmer, grazier, builder, permaculturist and volunteer fire fighter. We left corporate America to live a simple, self-sufficient life in the Ozarks. Read more

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Posted in Farm Life, Off grid, Permaculture, Straw Bale Building

Tagged house design, off grid, passive solar, permaculture, permaculture house design, straw bale building, straw bale house

Surviving Summer

Posted on July 24, 2016 by Janelle | 6 comments

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.

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.

Hi! Around here I wear many hats. Homesteader, farmer, homemaker, homeschool mom, gardener and builder. We strive for a simple, self-sufficient life on our little piece of paradise. Read more

6 Comments

Posted in Farm Life

Tagged keeping cool, no air conditioning, no central air, summer heat, surviving summer

Farming: A Career Change

Posted on May 24, 2016 by Travis | 5 comments

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.

A conventional job is often described as comfortable, stable, or secure. Whether or not that is actually accurate, it can certainly feel that way. However, humans tend to be rather illogical about things and that perceived security may not be as secure as it feels. Regardless, comfortable easily describes many jobs. Routine and known things are somehow comfortable. Branching out into the unknown can certainly be intimidating. This is how I felt when I left the safe, familiar world of engineering and decided to buy a farm. That coupled with my inexperience in the field of farming made it feel extra scary. However, today I’m grateful that we pursued our dreams, even though we haven’t yet fully met all our goals.

Here are some things to think about if you decide to consider a career change. My experience is from engineering to farming/ranching/permaculture so that’s what I’ll share, but I suspect it could apply to more than just those specifics. Keep in mind that I’m not giving advice, just sharing our experiences. As my neighbor always says, free advice is worth just that anyway. Most importantly, try to be honest with yourself throughout this decision making process or else this is a waste of time. Be willing to consider downsides. Don’t look at best-case income/etc unless you also consider worst case or more realistic outcomes.

Travis

Computer engineer turned full time farmer, grazier, builder, permaculturist and volunteer fire fighter. We left corporate America to live a simple, self-sufficient life in the Ozarks. Read more

5 Comments

Posted in Farm Life, Homesteading, Moving

Tagged career change, changing jobs, get started farming, moving to homestead, starting a farm

Getting started without permanent fencing

Posted on April 12, 2016 by Janelle | 4 comments

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.

Hi! Around here I wear many hats. Homesteader, farmer, homemaker, homeschool mom, gardener and builder. We strive for a simple, self-sufficient life on our little piece of paradise. Read more