#homestead — Public Fediverse posts

Been browsing old photos to remind myself when I planted the garlic last year (mid October).

Always seems like there is too little progress on the homestead until you look at old photos and go "huh, last year it still looked like this."

This is the same potato field exactly one year ago. An overgrown goat pen full of thorny fuckers, 2m tall weeds and an ingrown fence.

Now it has yielded a basement full of potatoes, a bunch of huge beetroots and some still growing pumpkins. Guess there was some progress after all. :blobcatgoogly:

#Homestead #Farm

The potatoes had two weeks to cure and dry in the barn since harvest, so its time for the final work.

Haul them back out to sort, crumble off the chunks of dirt (it was an inevitably moist harvest) and lug them into the little basement under the house.

I didn't bother weighing them but a very rough guesstimate would be around 300 kg.

Plus a few damaged ones to eat soon and two small crates of baby potatoes which don't store well but are delicious autumn food, boiled with the skins on.

Ready for a cepelinai* party.

#Harvest #Potato #FoodPreservation #Homestead

* Look it up. Go on.

Junk cleanup yielded a piece of 4mm corrugated steel sheet.

Just the right size for a replacement lid for the septic tank. The old concrete lid is crumbling away.

Drew a circle with a magnet, string and a nail and set up the plasma cutter.

This is the difficult part as we don't really have enough power for it. The 4-5mm is about the maximum I can do before the fuse blows and that is with the air compressor already offloaded to the generator.

It worked though and if you ever tried to cut a circle with an angle grinder you know it was worth the faff.

Hammered some flat bar from the scrap bin into a handle and sparkled that on, then some rust converter and a bit of paint.

Good enough for sitting out in a field where nobody sees it.

#Lid #DIY #Homestead #Metalworking #PlasmaCutting

Break from the foundation job while the concrete sets.

Hooked up the trailer and fetched the first load of firewood Audra* has left in the forest for us.

Hauled away the old man's old plow, which completes cleaning up the junk pile under the power line.

Then some concrete pylon juggling. Resulting in a storage area for sawmill logs, one for firewood logs and a better firewood processing area, to be upgraded further. Also a place to park the little trailer.

* Lithuanian word for storm and also a common female first name

#Homestead #Cleanup #Firewood #Junk

Chicken wants to know if your "Working at Height" certificate is up to date.

#Chicken #Cat #Homestead #CatsOfMastodon

Soon.

#Apple #Garden #Homestead #Fruit

Lloyd Kahn on his NorCal self-reliant half-acre #homestead – *faircompanies

https://faircompanies.com/videos/lloyd-kahn-on-his-norcal-self-reliant-half-acre-homestead/

Putting the aggregate pile back to sleep for winter.

#Aggregate #Pile #Renovation #DIY #Homestead

This Saturday on the #homestead, I cleared 36 m² (~400 square feet, I think) of dry #blackberry brambles and Ailanthus altissima, dug that space with a hoe, and planted 23 prickly pear #pads in 2 rows, #plants spaced 1m (~3'4").

The row closest to the edge is there to stay, as a natural fence, the one closer to the camera is there just to propagate, to get more to plant next year, continuing the first row.

I hit so many rocks my shoulder is killing me.

9/10 would do it again.

#permaculture

Last Saturday I cut down the prickly pear in my parents' #garden because it had grown too tall and overflowed into the neighbor's garden. Circled in brown, where it was, in green the #leaves / #pads to #plant again in my #homestead, in red those to #compost .

Only one #needle stung me, but it was more than enough to convince me of their efficacy to deter intruders.

Another neighbor pleasantly chatted about #breaded and #fried #cactus pads. I gave him some.

#gardening #slow #slowlife #cooking

Last Saturday I cut down the prickly pear in my parents' #garden because it had grown too tall and overflowed into the neighbor's garden. Circled in brown, where it was, in green the #leaves / #pads to #plant again in my #homestead, in red those to #compost .

Only one #needle stung me, but it was more than enough to convince me of their efficacy to deter intruders.

Another neighbor pleasantly chatted about #breaded and #fried #cactus pads. I gave him some.

#gardening #slow #slowlife #cooking

Last Saturday I cut down the prickly pear in my parents' #garden because it had grown too tall and overflowed into the neighbor's garden. Circled in brown, where it was, in green the #leaves / #pads to #plant again in my #homestead, in red those to #compost .

Only one #needle stung me, but it was more than enough to convince me of their efficacy to deter intruders.

Another neighbor pleasantly chatted about #breaded and #fried #cactus pads. I gave him some.

#gardening #slow #slowlife #cooking

Last Saturday I cut down the prickly pear in my parents' #garden because it had grown too tall and overflowed into the neighbor's garden. Circled in brown, where it was, in green the #leaves / #pads to #plant again in my #homestead, in red those to #compost .

Only one #needle stung me, but it was more than enough to convince me of their efficacy to deter intruders.

Another neighbor pleasantly chatted about #breaded and #fried #cactus pads. I gave him some.

#gardening #slow #slowlife #cooking

Last Saturday I cut down the prickly pear in my parents' #garden because it had grown too tall and overflowed into the neighbor's garden. Circled in brown, where it was, in green the #leaves / #pads to #plant again in my #homestead, in red those to #compost .

Only one #needle stung me, but it was more than enough to convince me of their efficacy to deter intruders.

Another neighbor pleasantly chatted about #breaded and #fried #cactus pads. I gave him some.

#gardening #slow #slowlife #cooking

Poured. Now the big tidy up.

There's still a fair bit of work here before winter in covering it up and thermally joining it to the wall, fixing the gutters, etc.

But the structural part is done. Next year, other half of the house. Maybe we'll get a less wet summer? Not counting on it.

Looking forward to warmer feet this winter! And maybe hauling a bit less firewood. This is the living room side and also the weather side and cold wind was blowing in through the cracks in the foundation under the floor. No more.

The not yet done bedroom side is heated much less anyways.

#Foundation #Renovation #LogHouse #Homestead #DIY #Insulation #Concrete

Poured. Now the big tidy up.

There's still a fair bit of work here before winter in covering it up and thermally joining it to the wall, fixing the gutters, etc.

But the structural part is done. Next year, other half of the house. Maybe we'll get a less wet summer? Not counting on it.

Looking forward to warmer feet this winter! And maybe hauling a bit less firewood. This is the living room side and also the weather side and cold wind was blowing in through the cracks in the foundation under the floor. No more.

The not yet done bedroom side is heated much less anyways.

#Foundation #Renovation #LogHouse #Homestead #DIY #Insulation #Concrete

I am the prince of mud and I bring you... mud*

Its not very fun in the drizzling rain but at least I'm not sweating up a Mar Menor like I did this summer. Got a lid for the cement bin and some bags over the electrical stuff, the rest doesn't matter.

* Concrete is basically grey mud that gets really hard, but at this stage its still mud

#Concrete #Mixing #DIY #Renovation #Foundation #Homestead #LogHouse #Mud

I am the prince of mud and I bring you... mud*

Its not very fun in the drizzling rain but at least I'm not sweating up a Mar Menor like I did this summer. Got a lid for the cement bin and some bags over the electrical stuff, the rest doesn't matter.

* Concrete is basically grey mud that gets really hard, but at this stage its still mud

#Concrete #Mixing #DIY #Renovation #Foundation #Homestead #LogHouse #Mud

Picked the #blackberries from my driveway, the #figs from behind the house, and the #apples from the nearby public fountain.

They #taste how the end of #summer feels.

#slow #life #slowlife #homestead #Italy #wild #fruit

I strained it through a cloth to catch all solid bits (#walnuts) while letting the #alcohol part through. Result: 1.5L of pure #homemade #nocino

Not satisfied, I decided to experiment some more by mixing 1L of milk to .5L of pure #liqueur to make nocino #cream.

Pure liqueur -> root cellar
Cream -> freezer

#recipe #homestead #slowlife

A Day in the Life at Duffney’s Bird Barn

https://duffneysbirdbarn.wordpress.com/2026/07/13/a-day-in-the-life-at-duffneys-bird-barn/

Phew, got the barn tidied up again just in time.

Also found out the exact lifting capacity of our Iseki's three point hitch - 500 kg. With a bit of OSB on top of the cement bags and the weight of the pallet forks (and pallet) I had to use brake steering as the front wheels were lifting and the rear hydraulics hitting relief pressure. Well designed balance! :)

My scrapmetal #PalletFork handled it fine and I got everything inside before the next rain front hit.

#Tractor #Iseki #Homestead #DIY #Cement #Barn #Pallet #Renovation

Dental checkup.

Only one tooth is broken, which is amazing considering how much concrete, rocks and steel beams I've hit with this rototiller. Quality Japanese steel.

And one has been installed the wrong way, so I need two left teeth but get a spare right :)

And some 80W90 gear oil.

Also patched the filler cap, the rubber was cracking.

#Tractor #Iseki #Rototiller #Homestead #Farm #DIY

Goat pen #2 is also going down.

It was full of thorny fuckers*, which got cut down and piled up for chipping, although they don't even make usable woodchips due to the incredibly hard thorns that remain intact. They'll go through boots and tyres.

Maybe LV/EE want them for planting along the border? Couple meters thicket of these and no infantry will get through. Cheaper than barb wire and always stays sharp.

* Botanical term. Common name: Blackthorn

#Homestead #Cleanup #Fence #Blackthorn #Borders

First load test successful. Got a "trunk" full of firewood to the house. Should probably improve the mounting system somewhat 😆

#Iseki #Tractor #PalletFork #Firewood #Homestead

Put the new drawbar to work and hauled some more firewood from the barn out in the meadow.

Slight problem getting it down from the top of the stack (it's higher than I can reach), but the good old "limber timber" method worked 😆

#Firewood #Tractor #Trailer #Homestead #Heating #Iseki

Tractor repair in the dark. Iseki was making some screeching noise when revving up, which I assumed was the alternator belt, not unusual when it gets cold and just needing more tension.

So I popped the hood only to find it wasn't the belt. Then I noticed when the screeching happens, the tachometer needle would go crazy.

Luckily I'm old and remember stuff from before digital everything. Found the one "cable" going from the dash that was not a cable, but a flexible shaft in a tube, driven by a gear on the injector pump.

Undid it and pulled out a flexible shaft that hadn't seen any lubricant in 40 years. Cleaned it a bit, hosed it down in silicone oil and back it went, now happy and no longer screeching.

#Tractor #Repair #Homestead #DIY #Iseki #Tachometer

Time to wake up that thing. Actually well late for it.

After planting potatoes this year and then digging them up and bending over an extra 8192 times to pick out all the steel, plastic, bricks, concrete and rocks, it's a LOT better this year.

Hit only one brick. Last year it was all bumps!

Also went and leveled some of the mess under the tree from the failed experiment in agroforestry and then did a surface pass through the orchard to break up the shallow Virginia creeper roots, which worked wonderfully - without bothering the deep apple tree roots at all.

As usual, a polite reminder: Don't fucking #Plasticulture, motherfuckers. That shit stays in the ground long after you're dead. :blobcattableflip:

#Tractor #Iseki #Freza #Rotavator #Rototiller #Farming #Homestead #Gardening

Auto-horizon explained in one picture.

This adds an extra hydraulic cylinder on one side of the three point hitch that is electronically controlled to regulate the attachment to be always level with the horizon, no matter how tilted the tractor is.

Kubota calls theirs "Monroematic". Our Iseki has it too, not sure what it's called there, the computer translates it with "horizontal rotary".

Pretty cool stuff for the 1970s. Revolutionary in working flooded rice fields, which is why most grey import Japanese tractors have it.

#Tractor #Technology #Kubota #Iseki #Monroematic #Homestead #Engineering #Farming

Short work day because morning shenanigans in town, but then I retrieved the rotavator from the tractor barn. Fixed a few small problems and greased all the things, as it was nicely painted but not a drop of grease anywhere.

Some studying of Japanese manuals (translated) and wrestling the thing on and off the 3PH twice and then... magic!

Turning the concrete field into fluffy garden soil. At sunset, sadly, so just a quick test run.

#Rotavator #Tractor #Iseki #Farm #Homestead #Gardening #Soil

After the test run, first mission: pick up windfall from the road down to the river.

This is why I serviced the already overhauled tractor first - I really wanted to be sure the brakes work. Had to stop on that hill repeatedly to pick up piles of logs.

Great success, not only did everything fit in the trailer, the Iseki pulled it back up the steep and snowy path with ease.

A lot easier than by wheelbarrow! 😅

Bonus: A nice sunset.

#Tractor #Trailer #Firewood #Homestead #Sunset #Iseki #4WD

Tractor arrived! 👨‍🌾 🎉

#Iseki #Farm #Homestead #Tractor #Traktoriukas

As I said last night, homemade beef jerky and crusty Italian bread were on the menu to be made today.

Unfortunately, the best laid plans of mice and men always run awry.

I had a migraine for the majority of today, and the meat that I pulled out for the jerky was pretty thick, and was thawing slowly. Therefore, the most I could do jerky-wise was getting the meat cut and into the marinade.

Then, it was onto the crusty bread. Simple to make, and absolutely delicious. I happened to overwork the dough a little bit, so the loaf came out more dense than I would've preferred-- which you can see in the last photo-- but it is still tasty.

Trust me-- I'm eating it typing this post.

#homestead #homesteading #homemadebread #bread #artisanbread #artisanalbread #homemade #homemaking #homemadefood #lovepeoplecookthemtastyfood #cookwithlove #baking #bakedbread #freshbakedbread #beefjerky #homemadebeefjerky #marinade #marinading #nospendjanuary #getcreative #fediverse #federated

I spend a lot of time finding and testing recipes to sell online, at farmer's markets, and at the roadside stand I set up on my family's property in the summer.

That is in addition to other things I sell, like stickers and candles.

What are some things you would stop by and check out and consider buying, knowing it was created and produced locally?

I've already got vegetables down, anything excess from my garden I turn around and sell or give away. We also sell our chicken's eggs when we have an abundance.

But what about hot sauces? Baked goods? Home goods you could be interested in? Jewelry?

I don't intend to make a full time job out of selling these items, unless that is somehow how it pans out. Plus, being in Wisconsin, I can't just have a roadside stand up all year.

Anyone got ideas for me?

#selfreliant #selfreliance #homestead #homesteading #farmstand #roadsidestand #roadsidefarmstand #smallbusiness #smallbusinesses #shopsmall #shoplocal #supportyourlocalfarmer #farmersmarkets #market #marketweekend #fediverse #federated

#CompostAtHome tip

If you have to #transplant your #seedlings make a bucket of aerated #compost tea. Soak the #seedling in the #compostTea for 30 seconds to get the biological activity in the #soil block.

The big pro of doing this is that you won't have to water after the transplant and it will give enough nutrients for the plant to grow and avoid any shock.

#gardening #gardens #GardensHour #compostodon #permaculture #nodig #growYourOwn #sustainability #composting #farming #homestead