Journey to self sufficiency part 1

I'm passionate about self sufficiency and sustainability and being a good steward of the land. My little urban homestead is a work in progress, self sufficiency is a journey and it is certainly not completed in one day!

This list is for my urban homestead. I have a somewhat different view for the little farm where the sheep, goats, horses and other chickens are. More on that in a different post!

The yard September 2009

Early 2010 after a big rain. I had just had some landscaping done and the manure worked into the ground with a tiller. Probably end May?

2010 late May. Still having landscaping issues.

2010 July. The weeds grew prolifically in the new manure enriched soil! 

My square foot garden in 2011. Chicken coop in background

Garden beds changed in 2012 to save space and produce more.

Lawn with micro-clover in (nitrogen fixing) and garden in background, 2012.

The lawn looks bigger than it is. The yard was landscaped in 2009, and again in 2010 and 2011 to fix drainage issues. I also imported several truckloads of rotted manure and spread it in the yard... with a shovel and a rake. :) The ground was bare during landscaping, and this lawn was seeded April 2012, and the picture is early August 2012. Amazing transformation.

A book that inspired me greatly, I still read from it regularly. 

John Seymour wrote about rotational grazing and environmental factors long before others.

The first edition of this book was published in 1976. 

Things I do already:

• I'm working on creating a permaculture yard with indigenous plant species.
• A large raised bed vegetable garden with closely spaced plants( think square inch!) and poly culture plantings: planting basil in the shade of tomatoes or radishes with carrots.
• The chicken coop is in the fruit orchard. The girls provide me with eggs and manure for the garden. They get rotated to fresh grass and get spoils from the garden.
• I recycle everything I can.
• I compost everything I can.

Things I would like to do:

• When my current washing machine quits, I will replace it with an energy free model.
• When my current dryer quits, I will not buy another one. A clothesline will do.
• If my kitchen appliances quit, I will replace them with energy free models where possible - hand crank blender, etc.
• I would like a wood stove for saving on energy bill - in fact I would like a Rocket Stove, which is more fuel efficient than a woodstove. But that might void fire insurance on my house....

Waste:

• Recycle everything possible.
• Compost everything possible
• Re-purpose where possible: re-use egg cartons, re-use tin cans for starting seeds, buy wisely. Buy in bulk to minimize waste and packaging.

Water:

• I plan to convert my toilet to a composting toilet and use the septic tank for grey water catchment only. That water can be used in the garden. I have a dirt basement so it should be fairly easy. Envirolet Composting has an extensive list of different styles, but I will have to save up some money for that as they are fairly pricey. 
• Have a rain barrel to catch runoff from the eaves. Maybe even one for next to the chicken coop!
• One side of my house eaves drain into the well in the front yard. 

Energy:

• Improve home insulation and ensure doors and windows seal. Use passive heating/cooling by opening curtains on sunny winter morning, closing them to block out heat in summer.
• I would like to install solar panels and a solar water heater. But good solar panels are still pricey. The provincial government in Ontario has some great programs for solar and wind, but here in Saskatchewan I will have to wait and see what programs they offer in the future.
• Use space heaters to just warm the rooms you use most, when you use them.
• When my current washing machine quits, I will replace it with an energy free model.
• When my current dryer quits, I will not buy another one. A clothesline will do.
• If my kitchen appliances quit, I will replace them with energy free models where possible - hand crank blender, etc.
• I would like a wood stove for saving on energy bill - in fact I would like a Rocket Stove, which is more fuel efficient than a woodstove. But that might void fire insurance on my house....

Environment:

• As many native plant species as possible.
• Nesting for native bird life.
• Shelter and food for beneficial insects and birds

A busy Summer

Wow I'm not sure where summer went!

It was a busy one. We were fortunate to have some help from the HelpX website - Paul and Charlene, Nic, Sarah, Cecilia, Fred and Fabien.
These folks helped out with looking after the chickens and turkeys, collecting eggs, fencing, gardening, yardwork, housework.... Thank you each and every one. I hope you enjoyed your visit to Canada!

So what have we been doing?
Larry had 3 different groups of cows to manage - checking water, moving fences for rotational grazing, moving cattle....

I had a fence to build, animals to pick up at community pasture, the sheep and goats that stayed home needed checking and managing, my garden needed work, I helped Larry move cows, and then tried to keep the Balance of things and plan fun stuff in between - so I took my horse Macy to 2 horse shows, took my dog Spice to sheep camp, went fishing, went to Cypress Hills, went riding 1x a week with my coach...

So here are some random photos from the summer
You might remember this photo from my Grazing Rotations blog - this was what the grass looked like after an intensive graze on June 4:

 This is the same hill, on July 6:  

Me and Macy moving cows

Jewel eating apples - there's an advantage to having a long neck! :)

Remus, new guardian of the flock. Sitting behind the electric fence.

Fishing with friends

 Nic enjoying some time off 

The chickens enjoying a dust bath under the trees

The new chicken pasture. 

  

chickens moved

turkeys foraging 

 Whats left of a plant: only the top leaves the turkeys cant reach! 

Here's a video clip of the turkeys grazing Turkeys Grazing

My veggie garden with chicken coop in background

 Another picture of a thistle that the chickens and turkeys stripped

Shamrock trail ride

Nic with a fish

At sheep camp: thanks to Chelsey A Hinckley for these gorgeous photos

Take-out day at the Elbow community pasture: I was at the crowding tub, this is the alley leading away from the tub to the sort gate

The view on the other side of the crowding tub! It was a hot and dusty day! 

Animals sorted into producer pens

 Remember what the layers looked like when we got them? 

Before and after

 Nice moose spotted on the way back from Elbow pasture

Sunset over Lake Diefenbaker

Fall is in the air....

Land of the living Skies :) 

Finding Balance

I love work. Especially when I am working on stuff I am passionate about! This may seem strange to people stuck in a job that they do not like, but when you are doing something you truly love, it doesn't feel like work.
When you are stuck in a job you do not enjoy, it seems that then you need distractions to 'get away from it all'. City folks need a boat and a camper or a cabin to get away to the lake to rejuvenate. My rejuvenation comes from spending time working with my animals, and working in my yard. But - one still needs balance.
The problem with ranching and working part-time is that there is always more work than time to do it in. Especially when like me, you are just starting up. There are fences to build, shelters to repair and build, corrals and pens to build, cleanup to be done, new animals that need to be tagged and vaccinated, the yard needs work, the vegetable garden needs work, the house needs work, and then there are the day-to-day mundane tasks like laundry, dishes, cleaning.... and pretty soon, there is no time for relaxing.

So every once in a while its time to ignore the pile of dishes and the grass that needs cutting, and go do something else. I went to a 2 day herding clinic with my dog Spice at Dog Tale Ranch. It took a bit of organization to get away for 2 days - someone needs to milk the milking goat 2x a day and care for her, animals and water system needs checking 1x a day, eggs need to be collected from the laying hens, and the dogs and cats need feeding. Its hard for both me and Larry to go away at the same time, so often I would stay home so he could attend a conference, and visa versa. In this case Larry opted to stay home and take care of things for me.

Training a herding dog is one of my goals. I searched long and hard to find a Belgian Shepherd with herding breeding. I wanted to Belgian because I love the breed, so along came Spice, or Elevation Spice it Up.
I had a great time camping with my dog, learning about pressure and release on dogs - which is a familiar concept to me with horses. One of the terms used in herding is 'finding balance' - where the dog learns to be opposite the handler, with the sheep between them. My dog is extremely talented and her instinct told her immediately where balance was. She found balance easily. Dogs live in the moment - if they feel like taking a nap, they do so. If they are thirsty, they have a drink. If they feel like playing, they do so.
We need to learn to live in the moment a bit more. Sometimes it is hard - things still need to get done, and we have such a short summer season to get it done in. It is easy for me to get lost in the work, but finding the balance between work and play - is something I have to work on.

Spice on the way to herding - are we there yet?

Spice camping

I look forward to having a few more fun days and going to Sheep Camp at Dog Tale Ranch in August.