It has been a month since our last update, and we apologize for the silence. The persistent heat waves rolling through have slowed activities and projects on the homestead. For the most part, we have been living in the camper. We did move back into the cabin for a few days, but the heat quickly returned. It is what it is. The slower pace has given Rick a chance to rest, even though he is chomping at the bit to get things done. It has also given Cat time to catch up on computer work.
As you know, we started a Facebook page for the homestead. It is a place to share the little things happening around here, build an online community, and hopefully create a little extra income over time. We are getting by on Rick's income, but an extra cushion would certainly help with the rising cost of everything. It would also allow us to buy supplies sooner and move projects along more quickly. You can find us on TikTok and Instagram, too. We are slowly getting those platforms up and running, but Facebook remains our main focus. Want a direct link? Just click the buttons below.
Cat never thought we would become social media people, but here we are. We do have a few rules: everything stays rough-cut. We are not going to polish things up just to make them look pretty. You will get the good, the bad, and the ugly. Social media cannot interfere with getting work done around the homestead, and our posts will be about the projects we are already doing—not projects we create just for content. We also will not be getting into YouTube. It is simply too much work, and we want to respect Rick's privacy.
We also added a new page to the blog with a link to our merch. Right now, we have a couple of T-shirt styles, two types of mugs, and two types of stickers. We will see how they are received, and we are already working on another T-shirt design. We still need to fill up the gallery, too. Maybe Cat will get that done while we are confined to the camper—or better yet, while we farm-sit for Tom and Theresa next month. We are very excited about that. There should be baby goats by then, so we will get a little taste of homestead life before we have animals of our own.
We have also been slowly making progress on the garden fencing. All of the poles are in and secured with bracing, and the fencing now runs around both the garden and the chicken run. We had planned to add another half-sized run around the chicken run, but realized the net over the existing run was large enough to cover that space. The net is mostly secured with zip ties, with only about six feet left to finish. After that, we need to make three gates.
We still need to check what hardware we have on hand and purchase anything we are missing. We also need to add hardware cloth along the bottom of the fencing—part above ground and part below ground. We have enough to finish the chicken run, but we are not sure how far it will go around the garden fencing. At the very least, we will get the back side facing the woods completed. We can pick up more materials after we return from vacation. Until then, we are trying to spend as little as possible, especially with gas costs for the trip.
Speaking of vacation, we will be in Michigan from September 25 through October 4. We are so excited to see everyone! We also have two new family members to meet. Our grandson, Jameson Austin, was born on August 13, weighing in at 11.5 pounds. Momma had a C-section, and both she and baby are doing very well. We are also looking forward to meeting Miss Allison's boyfriend, Trevor. If you would like to get together while we are there, please reach out to us. We are scheduling our trip now so we can visit as many people as possible. We are happy to say that our granddaughter just started kindergarten. She loves school.
Another exciting thing that happened this past month was a special visit to the homestead. Sean and Jessica Hughes from Off Grid and Growing came out to visit, film, and take photos. They are the ones who introduced us to Landstruck, and we have admired their entire journey. They put it all out there—their honesty, hard work, lack of preparedness, and learning curve—while building a life they are proud of and that brings them peace.
Sean and Jessica now work with Landstruck on social media and advertising, and they visited with Glenn and Colby from Landstruck. It was wonderful to show them everything we have accomplished and receive such encouraging feedback on the effort we have put into making this place our own. Cat also did an interview about our experience with Landstruck and getting settled here. Sean and Jess created an amazing promo that represented all of us so well. You can watch it here: Promo Video
Our garden has been doing well overall. We enjoyed a watermelon, though Cat thinks she may have picked it a little early. We still have three more growing in the garden. Our corn produced ears, but they did not amount to much. The green beans, however, have been producing well. Our boo pumpkins are finished, and we have four pumpkins that are nearly ready. We have also been picking tomatoes, though they are only about the size of cherry tomatoes. We have been snacking on them, and they are fantastic. The sweet potato vines have been trying to take over everything, so we are hopeful that we will have a good harvest when it is time to dig them up. We have harvested 5 zucchini. Cat made two loaves of bread and has plans for the rest. She has also been canning a lot of produce that we have acquired from outside sources.
Because we do not have proper conditions for storing canned goods, we lost five jars of vegetables. Cat was really disappointed, but it could have been worse. Right now, we do not have the funds or the right weather to dig a root cellar. It will happen someday; we just do not know when.
We have new neighbors! The lot right next to us became available, and I mentioned it to M & M. Now, guess who our neighbors are? This is very exciting. It will be easier for us to keep an eye on one another and make workdays more convenient between all three properties, including Bertha and her family’s place. Speaking of Bertha, her son made us some chairs for our porch. We actually call them thrones.
We recently got together for a workday to prepare the land for the ladies to move onto it. We worked like a well-oiled machine: we had an objective, completed it safely, and no one got hurt or suffered too much from the heat. Everyone watched out for one another. By the end of the day, the site was neat and tidy, with wood in one pile and brush in another. We made a deal with the ladies to come down and chip up the brush, which cleared it out of their way and gave us material to add to our food forest. We spent two Saturdays working on it and got most of it finished. We will leave the rest for them to burn or handle however they choose.
We think that about sums up everything. We thank you for being with us on our journey. We do get wordy sometimes. We do want you to come back on the 8th for a special blog post. It is celebrating 1 year on the property. It will be a great one. We have a slide show prepared and we will be talking about our year in review.
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