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Passing the Point of No Return: Our New Livestock

“This is going to be our last vacation ever together, AND I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT IT.”

We were lounging on the beach at an all-inclusive resort in the Dominican Republic, a plate of nachos and numerous mixed drinks between us. The water was exquisite and our schedules were empty. A few rare days of total self-indulgence laid ahead of us, but all Ian wanted to talk about was farm animals.

I speak in…

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Our Big News: We Bought a Farm!

It’s been months in the making, but Ian and I finally found a new way to be different than most millennials and bought our first house.

Except it’s not just a house, it’s a real, honest to goodness, fulfills-every-childhood-dream-I’ve-ever-had farmhouse.

We own this barn now. Is this real life?!

As of last Wednesday, we are the proud owners of 33.5 acres in Allegan County, Michigan. Half of the…

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#buying a farm #buying rural property #farm life #farming #how to buy a farm #new farm #property #rural propery

Love, Loss and a Pint-Sized Puppy

Hey everyone!

Did you think you’d never hear from me again?

It really hasn’t been too long since my last post. Just since…. May. Whoops.

I blame three things for my major blog absence these past three months:

Working so hard to bring my freelancing business to the next level that the idea of spending even more time in front of a computer screen made me want to puke.

2. Gorgeous weather, a…

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#farm dog #homestead dog #new puppy #puppy #rat terrier

Your Freelance Writing Questions, Answered

It came as a complete surprise to me that the month of May means I’ve been freelance writing for a full year.

What started off as an innocent google search of “how to make money writing” has turned into my full-time job. As great as it is to get paid to do something I love, I won’t pretend that the learning curve wasn’t steep. Becoming a freelance writer was less an artistic endeavor for me than…

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#freelance writer #freelance writing #professional writer #remote work #working from home #working remotely #writing #writing jobs

Ian Was Right. Don't Make Me Say it Again.

Ian Was Right. Don’t Make Me Say it Again.

Trust me, I wouldn’t say it if it wasn’t true.

Last year, our homestead garden was entirely my responsibility. While I relied on Ian to run the over-sized tiller to turn up the thick clay we were pretending was good garden soil, the planning, planting and maintenance of the space was completely up to me.

And it was a disaster.

(more…)

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#Appalachia #garden #gardening #homestead garden #Homesteading #self sufficiency #west virginia

Stuffing Dreams In an Envelope

This might be the dumbest purchase I’ve ever made.

But maybe not.

I’m usually not one to throw money away… but I’m also a sucker for some risk.

Given the right upbringing, I could have easily become a professional poker player, or at least a lottery addict. I get a rush from taking chances, especially when the reward is tempting. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. After all, the thrill of…

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#bluebird hill farm #bluebird hill farm essay contest #essay contest #farm contest #farm essay contest

Watching Our Pet Population Get Decimated

It’s been a rough ten days for the animals at our homestead.

Despite a wonderful influx of dearly loved human companions coming to visit in recent weeks, we’ve dealt with far more than our fair share of animal-based disasters. Perhaps it’s only because we simply have more creatures in our lives than most people, but it still feels like what we’ve been dealing with recently is well beyond normal.

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#animal injuries #dog problems #dogs #farm animals #livestock

A Passel of Puppies!

It’s not everyday you get an email this exciting.

Unbeknownst to me, Sr. Kathy had been losing sleep for days over the fate of a friendly dog that had chosen a rather undesirable spot to give birth to her puppies; right beneath the floor of a nearby home. The puppies may have been cute, but their constant cries kept the family awake, so Kathy was commissioned with finding them a new (temporary)…

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#Appalachia #baby dogs #baby puppies #dogs #fostering animals #fostering puppies #homestead animals #homestead dogs #Homesteading #living echo blog #new puppies #puppies #west virginia

How We Made a Homemade Rain Barrel Aquaponics System

A new year means a new wave of projects for Ian to delve into, and he wasted no time setting up a home-based aquaponics system right in our pantry.

Actually, saying Ian waited till the New Year is putting it too strongly. He had the system set up in our pantry back in early December, and I was forced to verbally combat him in numerous lengthy arguments over why he couldn’t justify buying fish…

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#aquaculture #aquaculture system #diy aquaculture #diy project #homestead #Homesteading #hydroponics #hydroponics system #project #rain barrel aquaculture

Our First Pig Slaughter

Well, we did it.

For those of you that harbored doubts about our ability to actually butcher our first pig, you can put those thoughts to rest.

This past weekend Ian, with the help of our pastor and professional butcher nephew along with a crew of middle school girls, humanely slaughtered Mr. Cris P. Bacon. After hours of effort we now have a full freezer of the freshest pork possible.

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#Appalachia #butchering livestock #Homesteading #large animal butchering #livestock #pig #pig butcher #pig butchering #sustainable meat #west virginia

Wendell and Aldo and the Peculiar Case of the Bags of Organs

Something sinister is afoot on the mountain these days… or at least something smelly.

Wendell and Aldo are true Appalachian dogs, meaning we let them have the run of the land and romp where they please. Unfortunately, sometimes that means they get into mischief.

Or rather, mischief finds them.

(more…)

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#Appalachia #dogs #Homesteading #hunting #hunting season #mystery #west virginia

Ian's New Pet Project

Ian’s New Pet Project

This is just about the final result of Ian’s most recent homestead obsession- all it needs are a few key extras to be complete.

Short of terrifying, does anyone have a guess for what it is?

If you don’t, no worries. It’s probably a sign that you’re in the sane majority not being continuously haunted by blue rain barrel fountains.

(more…)

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Why I Write

November has extra significance for me this year.

It marks six months since I started freelance writing, and three months since I began doing it full-time.

Back in May I was feeling stuck. Much of my working time was spent deep inside myself, writing and reforming blog posts in my head until I had the freedom to take out my laptop and type them up. This left me feeling split in two and never…

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#dominican republic #freelance writing #freelancing #travel #upwork #working from home #working remotely

Pets vs. Livestock: The Paradoxes of Farm Animal Ownership

For the past few weeks on our property we’ve had a chicken with a phlegmy, body-wracking cough and a chronically limping dog.

Poor Wendell has been on three different vet visits and undergone multiple x-rays of his stiff leg. Some were taken while he was unconscious from heavy-duty (and costly) anesthetics, all to see if he was a candidate for an eye-wateringly expensive reconstructive surgery to…

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#Appalachia #butchering chickens #butchering rabbits #dogs #homestead #homestead livestock #Homesteading #homestearders #livestock #meat rabbits #pets #pig #raising animals #raising livestock #west virginia

Our Pallet Pig Pen: Best Tips for Success

Shipping pallets are a popular building material right now. Just look on Pinterest and you’ll see plenty of pallet crafts and DIY projects. With a little internet browsing, you can find everything from cute pallet coffee tables to fully functional kitchen shelves.

But a pallet pig pen? That’s probably the only pallet project capable of exciting Ian.

Surprisingly enough, Ian does occasionally…

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#Appalachia #building a pig pen #diy #diy project #Homesteading #homesteading diy #homesteading livestock #how to build a pig pen #livestock #pallet pig pen #pallet project #pig #pig pen #raising a pig #west virginia

Learning to Live With Good Enough

As much as this blog allows me to celebrate everything that’s going well for us, there are a lot of things that I wish could have gone a little differently this past year.

This was my first year out of school and my first opportunity to have a full-time job that lasted for more than the summer months. It was also my first year of marriage and the opportunity to fully pursue the “homesteading…

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#Appalachia #carol dweck #garden #garden failure #gardening #goals #Homesteading #mindset #west virginia

A Guide to Meat Rabbits: a Sustainable Food Source

Confession time.

We’ve been eating rabbit. Lots of it.

Ian butchered our rabbitsseveral weeks ago, and since then we have eaten them grilled, curried and stewed. Every meal has been delicious so far and we even managed to serve some to our adventurous friends over Labor Day. I love the slightly gamey taste of our rabbits and the fact that each one is a perfect portion for two people. Our first…

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#Appalachia #bunnies #homestead livestock #Homesteading #livestock #meat #meat bunnies #meat rabbits #new zealand whites #rabbit #rabbit meat #rabbit stew #rabbits #raising meat #raising rabbits

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