My Custom Homestead-Day 1

One of the blogs that I've found recently that has an amazing amount of helpful information is The Prairie Homestead.  I initially discovered it while looking at whether or not to wash eggs after I got into a conversation about it with friends--they wash them, I had been buying farm fresh eggs at our farmer's market and never washing them.  Anyway, this blog, written by Jill, has lots of other great tips, like an easy way to bake pumpkin for use in baked goods, recipes, information about keeping goats, etc.  And all written in a way that makes me feel like I can totally relate to the woman who is writing, like we're sitting down having a conversation about homesteading together over a cup of tea.

She has also just recently released an ebook called Your Custom Homestead: Awakening a Fresh Vision of Homesteading, which I purchased last week when she had a great 20% off promotion.  I read it early in the weekend and thought that it fit extremely well with a series of posts I wanted to start anyhow.

The ebook I recently purchased.

Photo of Jill from her blog.

I have already posted a little about the beginning of my homesteading journey here and here.  I wanted to continue to explore how I came to be at the beginning of this road and work my way through what my goals and inspirations are as I continue to write about some of the things that I'm pursuing at the moment, such as the community garden and my application for a permit to have laying hens.  Jill's book basically walks you through the planning procedure and is helpful for those of us who, like me, love to plan and might continue to dream and plan infinitely without taking the plunge into actually doing something.  It's also great for those of you that might be prone to purchasing a milk cow off Kijiji without stopping to consider that you don't know the first thing about cows.

So I am going to work through her book here on my blog, hopefully not giving too much of it away but following the guidelines she sets out as steps to follow to turn my dream into a reality, one that fits my life situation at this time.  I'll progress through twenty-one days of small steps, and reflect on them here.

Day 1
I've today started a homesteading binder.  This will be where I keep all my thoughts, plans, and hopes organized in one place.  Tips for growing watermelons in our climate?  Look in my binder.  What goals do I have for the next 5-10 years?  Oh look!  It's in my binder.  My childhood neighbour Hazel's recipe for delicious mustard pickles?  You've got it, in the binder.  And the articles that I will be cutting out of the magazines I mentioned the other day?  What better place to keep them organized and ready to read in years to come than my new, sturdy, Canadian-made, 2-inch ring, binder.

Right now my binder is empty except for some organizing tabs.  But as I go through the next few weeks, I'll begin filling it up with everything I mentioned above and more.  Maybe some of you can follow along, or go purchase Jill's ebook for yourselves!

Here is my binder, full of promise.

*Note the sweet potato vine in the background.  I thought it made my instagram picture (which I use because I am no photographer and I find them to be quite forgiving) a little more colourful and artistic and homestead-y looking.  That's my little confession.  Also, while I'm confessing, that poor thing was living in a jar for about 4 months and I only planted it in that (eco-friendly) pot this afternoon, so I felt the need to showcase it, even if it isn't in the best shape because of being in the aforementioned jar.

I'll be back tomorrow with my next step in building my custom homestead.