Yesterday was the second time I’ve taken paid-time-off (i.e. ‘vacation time’) to go “help out” on another farm. So far it has been the best way for me to learn new skills and meet new friends. I’ve also taken a few weekend days to work on other farms in the area. I’ve learned some new organic gardening techniques and how to properly use a scythe over at Abundant Dawn; how to identify and all of the great uses for locust trees over at Wild Hill Farms; how to install floor joists and locust-pole-stilts on a cabin at our friends’ Tommy and Amber’s place; and finally how to quickly process your own chickens over at The Walden Effect farm a few hours away.
Living a Simple Life
About getting back to the basics of living a happy, simple life.
Archive for ‘Simple Living’
Volunteering On Other Farms to Learn What to Do on Yours
Our Day on the New River Trail (Video)
We haven’t been posting much lately because, as usual, we’ve been working like mad-folk and by the time we plop down at night to eat dinner we are just too exhausted to think about writing a blog entry. But don’t take that the wrong way… A: I love writing the blog and sharing our experiences; it helps us feel connected to something larger even though we’re in the middle of the mountains; and B: The “exhausted” feeling we have is a good one. I like the way it feels to accomplish some important tasks around the place. For instance…
Pictures From Last Week Around the Farm
Here are a few pictures that have been sitting on the camera since last week.
An Evening With Oil Lamps
Last night we didn’t use the electric lights and instead opted for our first of many oil-lamp nights. Missy’s mom and dad brought us some fantastic oil lamps from their place in Ohio, including a really neat one that goes on a stand, which swivels around on the wall. The stand has a reflective plate behind it to direct the lamp light to wherever you need it in the room. I’ve never seen anything quite like it, but it must have been a welcome invention back in the days before widespread electricity.
Busy Weekend FUN Photos!
As promised, here are some photos from around the farm this weekend. You can view all images in a larger format by clicking on them. A few of them might even make good desktop wallpaper. 
Missy and Smokey enjoying a late afternoon view of the pasture.
A Tour of The Property – FINALLY!
Missy finally finished editing this video that’s been sitting on our camcorder tape for about a week. In it you’ll see our property from the vantage of the back yard. We have about 10-12 acres that you can’t see in the video, which sit on a wooded hillside behind the pasture. But what you see here is the area where we’ll spend 99% of our time until we clear that hillside for sheep… someday.
Homesteading, Back-To-The-Land, Rural Skills, Foodie, Self Sufficiency Books
When we bought “the farm” it was our intent to put our city house up for sale and maybe live in it for another year while waiting for a buyer. To our surprise, someone snatched up our little wannabe-urban-homestead the 2nd week it was on the market. Unprepared, we rented a duplex and found a caretaker for our new 15-acre property on the other side of the country.
How To Make Your Own Soap
In the video below I demonstrate a very simple homemade soap recipe using lye, lard, coconut oil, peppermint oil and food coloring. Homesteaders used to get lye from dripping water through wood ashes, and lard from butchering and/or cooking animals. Although I’d like to try it the old-fashioned way eventually, we’re sticking with store-bought lye and lard for now.
How To Make Farmhouse Cheddar Cheese
The video below is of a class I taught for the Denver Urban Homesteading Group last month called Cheesemaking 101. It should help get you started if you want to learn how to make your own farmhouse cheddar cheese.
How To Make Cheddar Cheese
Solar Oven Review Video
A review of the Global Sun Oven by Sun Ovens International. I made this video at a recent group picnic in Denver, Colorado:
About Us
We're not technophobes or Luddites. We simply believe that people have lost some important things in the march toward progress. That is not to say progress and simplicity are mutually exclusive. We believe we can have both, and this site catalogs our journey as we try to do exactly that.