Verbotene Stadt Homestead

25/07/2024

9:45 berry picking! Dinner!

25/07/2024

What a week! Had to replace a couple of batteries Monday, batteries are charging perfectly. Today I wired up my 12v sunstar fridge/freezer to a 12v plug and it’s up and running perfectly! Have to tack up my wires but needed to make sure it was working first. Time to play outside in the garden, get some weeds cleared and plant some seeds and starts! It’s a beautiful day in Alaska!

I don’t enjoy doing electrical work and sometimes I have to refer to professionals to make sure I’m doing something safely. It’s an exciting step to know I’m on my way to the same food freedom I’ve experienced in CO. It’s time for me to fill this freezer with fish!

24/07/2024

24/07/2024

11:50 PM goodnight sun.

24/07/2024

12v AGM SLA 100ah. I’ve had a few people ask me for a YouTube channel. I’m not too sure about that but we’ll see. I’ll do some videos perhaps during and perhaps not of some of what I’m doing.

Last week one of my AGM batteries started to get hot, bubble and expand so I hailtwd the charging and called it a day. The batteries were well over 10 years old according to the label so I’m sure they had more than a good life. Being gone and running them down to zero is poor for a batteries health but that much worse when they’ve aged out.

I was able to find some replacements that I could have picked up in Anchorage yesterday but driving to a little over 400 miles round trip wasn’t something I wanted to do after driving from CO to AK last week. I’ve been here almost one week in about another hour or so.

I love having solar as I really don’t consume much electricity. I like to work in the dark until light hours encroach. I don’t have a lot of electrical appliances here both by choice and due to lack of need. In the future I will amp up my solar and battery bank but I’ll do so when it makes sense for me to do so.

I’ve got all of my connections to get my 12V DC freezer up and running just need to get all components put together and plugged in!

21/07/2024

Yesterday I wound up working a little, I was glad to help but it made me useless to do any work around the house. I wound up taking a nap on the porch with the sun beating down on my face.

Over the years I’ve been asked when do I sit down and do nothing. It’s rare that I’m not doing something but I have only two must do projects to do while I’m here that will get done but in the meantime I’m doing some small things. Ensuring my food security with plant starts and a freezer so that I have a place to put my fish. I got the freezer at a scratch and dent price which was below what I budgeted so that was a nice win and I got my icebox cleaned out and filled with delicious produce from the farmers market.

In order to spend less time at the grocery store this summer I brought a lot of my staple food items with me, foraging berries and fishing are both fun for me and will get me back into the swing of regular fishing to fill my freezer for the winter with salmon.

Today I went to hear my neighbor sing and play guitar in Homer. Something occurred with another neighbor and the way everyone came together to make sure they were ok, was a reminder that my off grid community truly is amazing. I’m incredibly happy to be part of this community.

18/07/2024

This morning I realized I left my coffee grinder and the pestle in Colorado so I shifted and improvised and wound up with a wonderful cup of coffee; using my mini sledge and a piece of blueberry stained 2x4. Coffee and Alaska go hand in hand for me, there’s coffee everywhere in this state! Some Ecoblue coffee from my friend in Texas, a little evaporated milk and some spruce tip sugar made for the perfect cup of soul warming coffee. This is how I pivot.

17/07/2024

We are all on different journeys in life some known and others yet unknown. Alaska for me is both the place I grew up and its home. My kids don’t live in Alaska and never have, they are a different kind of home for me and with me but Alaska is the place I will always call home.

I chose to buy property and later homestead in Alaska because it’s the place I feel most like myself and being who I am has always been the best way for me to be honest with myself, despite what other say.

I arrived at the Shabin around 10:40 PM, it still smells of wood from the last project I worked on. As I looked around the property last night I wished my goat girls were here, the paths need to be cleared. The mild winter and recent heavy rainy have allowed the flora to flourish. I built a small fenced area and I’m hoping I’ll be able to locate a semi flourishing garden. It’s great to be home

14/07/2024

You may be from Alaska if you see a moose on the side of the road only to realize jt was just killed and the following thoughts go through your head in quick succession: “aw a dead moose how sad”, “omg it’s still moving” ,”oh damn I have my butchering tools with me, that’s a lot of meat potentially going to waste” “hmmm who to pull over and call to help out” “girl keep driving you don’t have a cooler”

10/07/2024

I’ll save this story for when I get home but it’s a great one. I’ve been fortunate to connect with a few people I’ve met on Facebook looking forward to a few more when I get back home. Alaska is full of badassery. It’s like a switch goes off that tells you you’re home. A switch that says this is the bed I want to lie in, so you make it but you start from scratch, you cut down the tree, you cut some boards, you put them together, you shrug your shoulders, pluck some down and make a mattress.

Yes I do believe I’m exaggerating but the point is when we dream big and start working towards and living those dreams the impossible suddenly seems possible. Nothing is out of reach. Keep building on yourself and you will build your future.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/EkpRnUuuoJM8WrVa/?mibextid=WC7FNe

07/07/2024

While showing my sister the yard with a new friend and my nephew today I wound up getting stung on the forearm by a wasp. This is the third time I’ve been stung, nope fourth and only once was it a bee. While cursing it and its blasted family I went and grabbed some stinging nettles, rolled it in my fingers and applied it to the sting that was quickly swelling. I tried to find some plantain but the nettles did the trick and unlike previous stings, I won’t feel this for two days. Super excited to harvest and dry some nettles when I go home, the more wild the better. Herbs are beneficial not just for culinary purposes but for medicine.

07/07/2024

Today was the day to trim and clean the cured garlic, some is still curing but it’s looking good. I cleaned and trimmed the ones that weren’t quite ready and left them to continue. I sorted the garlic by size instead of variety, like I usually do, leaving the extra small ones or small ones not quite cured to be dried for powder.

I’ve got garlic scapes drying, garlic drying, as well as cilantro and parsley. These will be coming to Alaska this summer to save me from buying some simple things that I use in abundance.

Last year I brought scape powder and while using it for a meal knocked half of it onto the ground into a puddle, but alas I had fresh garlic I was able to use the rest of the time I was there when I ran out. The house smells like an Italian restaurant right now.

16/06/2024

Garlic is one of the most versatile things I grow. I used it for ferments, tea, fresh eating, and dried for powder. I planted less garlic this year than in years past but for the first time didn’t order any and just used my own. This year I’ll likely do a combination of the two. I’ve got a few weeks until the garlic is done harvesting and then off to Alaska to harvest scapes and then garlic and so it all over again.

17/05/2024

It will be a while before my Alaska home is completed as I envision it. For keeping food cold I’ve been using a simple Coleman cooler. You learn how to organize food, what you do and don’t really need. I’ve been almost obsessed with finding an icebox for at least 4 years, before I even considered moving back home. Finally I found one in great shape that wasn’t going to cost me $5-600. The parts for my stove have been ordered so I can convert it and now I’ve got an ice box to clean up and goth up.

22/04/2024

I’ll write more on this later but what do they expect! Wow this is the title of an article from the Washington Post.

Rooftop solar panels are flooding California’s grid. That’s a problem.

21/04/2024

Yesterday we got four inches of snow and while I had things I could do outside I decided instead to do more crafts of sustainability for my goth country themed homestead and for now as well.

Beeswax wraps in various sizes, a beeswax bread bag, a corn tortilla warmer (instead of using a towel) and a sandwich bag. I always forget how to use the snap attacher thingamajig so I’ll have to reheat my sandwich bag from the excessive bending. I also learned that you really have to guide fabric that’s covered with wax.

On my way outside to get some planting done and check on my zucchini and get rid of more things that won’t be coming to Alaska. This is Mrs Duck wondering why I had the nerve to come out at 8:30 yesterday and some asparagus I picked Friday night when it just started to snow.

10/04/2024

Unconventional garden flex

09/04/2024

Apparently this is the 50th anniversary for Little House on the Prairie. I loved that show growing up, the simplicity of life, the life lessons and the love stories. I read the books in elementary school and continued to watch the show until it no longer aired…and then I bought the first two seasons on DVD (I need to gather the rest).

We’ve used cloth napkins since the kids were little, dishcloths and dish towels for spills and rarely paper towels. Last summer I found myself reaching for paper towels. When I say rarely we’ve had the same roll of paper towels on the counter for 6 months now and it might be half gone.

I’ve got some reusable zip lock bags, produce bags, grocery bags so now I’m making some unpaper towels, a couple of bread bags, wax wraps, sandwich bags and perhaps a new apron. One day I’ll make myself some pantaloons because, why not!

I’m going for modern country goth in my Alaska cabin, which includes the little things like napkins.

09/04/2024

I’ve had some unwritten gardening rules that I chose to break this year. Usually I direct sow lettuce and other leafy greens when the garlic and asparagus start popping up. I started a couple of weeks before the garlic and the asparagus is just beginning to rear its head so I’m glad I chose to go with my gut this time.

Gardening and growing food in general day be complicated or simple: I know we which growing zone I’m in and I choose not to follow it. I choose to nature watch or just wing it. Overall this has served me well.

24/03/2024

Four years ago today the below happened: Just before 8AM I left the house to go get hay by 8:15 I was back home and just before 9 the girls and I picked up and stacked, in the barn and loft, a bundle of hay (21 bales). When we got home I cried a little because I was able to do this without having to borrow someone and their truck. The first couple of times I did this Bobby Bateman was gracious enough to help me and we had a lot of fun doing so, since then a couple of others have helped but now I’m able to do it on my own. I like my independence and though I’m grateful for others lending me a hand when needed it felt great to be able to do this today. Feeling like a real farmer.

Today I took another trek out to get some hay, this was my first 100% solo endeavor as usually at least one of my daughters is home. For this reason I chose to get 10 bales instead of my usual 21, I’ll grab more when someone is home so I can easily get them up into the loft.

The kicker with this is that though I only got 10, I had to lift them 4 times. Some yahoo woman that will remain nameless thought it would be good to only put a goat sized door on the side of the barn and cannot go back and make a full sized conveniently placed door because there’s a window in the way. So into the truck, out of the truck, into the barn over the pen and finally stacked. This is why I chose not to go to the gym this morning.

All showered and ready to finish meal prepping and then back outside for more gardening. Happy Sunday!

14/03/2024

Anyone who knows me knows I’m not a prepper but consider myself more of an urban farmer or urban homesteader. Nonetheless preparing for life or at least having the skills is becoming more and more important. The demographics of people gardening, canning, animal husbandry etc has changed and will continue to evolve as more people move back to the land and just simply become more aware.

The axe in this article is a Council Tools axe manufactured in NC in the 1930s. It was a beauty and perhaps one day I’ll handle the time tested tool that was a brand used by my family in NC years ago.

The number of preppers has doubled to about 20 million since 2017 due to more people of color and progressives joining the community, experts say.

14/03/2024

Snow day. Not a lot of snow so far but the day has just begun. Spent some time in the garden and watered my greens before putting them back to bed. I expect that when the snow melts, I’ll see so much more popping up. I was able to get some onions, beets and a few potatoes planted a couple of weekends ago. Salad greens will be ready to start eating in a couple of weeks and the brassicas that are out there should be ready to transplant to their forever bed when I think them from this bed. Happy growing everyone.

02/03/2024

When I was at my offgrid Alaska cabin this summer I bought some dry beans forgetting that all I had was a camp stove and a blackstone. I had brought an insulated bag with me and knew there are a lot of countries that don’t use traditional slow cookers or stoves because of the amount of energy they consume for hours on end. So I had some extra bubble insulation, a towel, an extra sheet and an insulated bag.

I had plans for making myself some chili. I cut and taped the insulation to surround my pot and lid. I lined the bottom of the bag with the crumpled sheet, surrounded the insulated pot with the towel, zipped the bag shut and put it in a sunny spot.

To prepare the beans, I first soaked them overnight then in the morning I brought them to a boil and added my onions, garlic and spices. I then put everything in the bag, worked all day and then in 8 hours I had perfectly cooked beans without using more than 10 min of gas from my camp stove. I finished it off on the black stone with my meat and other veggies, the chili was delicious. There are bags you can make specifically for this but on the fly and for no additional cost this worked great! For me going offgrid means having conveniences when you can and otherwise improvising because saving fuel and energy is at the top of my list.

02/03/2024

In 2017 I reached out to Still Meadow Kinders about obtaining some goats. She told me it would be a long wait. I wound up with an amazing mentor that taught me some incredible lessons. I got to attend my first goat birth the next year and later that year came home with two of the wethers I got to help bring into the world. A year after that I put them into the freezer.

As I look back at the beginning of my journey with goats my love and desire for them came long before I had them. I read, I asked questions, I learned. There are many reasons why I had to keep my girls when I was first told they had to leave. They are the reason for so many things.

As you go through a homesteading journey taking the life of an animal for food or otherwise will eventually occur. Treat them with kindness, love and appreciate every moment you have with them.

27/02/2024

The lettuce is sprouting more today than yesterday. Soon this bed will be full of lettucr, arugula, garlic, shallots and brassica starts that will be transplanted elsewhere. Got myself a nifty gadget for an Alaska project. Amazon had it cheaper than the box stores and so Amazon for the win. First Spring has sprung and I’m ready for some winter greens and arugula before the spring greens.

17/01/2024

My life in Alaska will be offgrid, currently my cabin has a beautiful outhouse the previous owner put in, and an outdoor shower that one of my daughters and I built one weekend. I’m grateful for my time offgrid. This weekend (Sunday- Tuesday afternoon) I wound up having no bathroom. Saturday morning I had to get two new tires because of a nail in one, they were almost ready to be replaced so I but the bullet.

I was unable to flush the toilet and it simply seemed clogged so I grabbed the plunger to no avail. Something told me to check the basement and sure enough I got there in time to catch water coming from the ceiling. I moved our storage items out of the way after grabbing the first water catchment I could find.

Initially I thought a pipe burst but could see the pipes clearly. I realized it was likely a clog in the main sewer line, coincidentally frigid days make for busy plumbers. I called my plumber who wasn’t available until Tuesday. With the weather the way it was I made the appointment and called around. I called another and their 24/7 service is not 24/7 they said they would be out Sunday by afternoon. They called Tuesday afternoon after I’d called to cancel when my plumber showed up in the window of time projected. It was indeed a clog 70ft away from the house that caused the backup. I spent last night after work cleaning up. It sounds much worse than it was and could have been had I not checked the basement.

I reverted back to being offgrid, to a degree, but found myself drinking less water because who really wants to use the bathroom in frigid temps (covered bucket outside, briefly brought inside and put back out for those that want to know). This event solidified two things, I will have an indoor bathroom and that I’m also fine not having a traditional bathroom.

I spent the majority of the weekend reading Sylvia Plath “The Bell Jar” and working on Jaes puzzle until well after midnight. The stillness reminded me of my time at home and made me grateful. I didn’t panic but I stressed, I acted and didn’t freeze. I crave simplicity, things I don’t have to call people to fix. I know basic plumbing, I had a feeling what was wrong but didn’t have the tools to fix the problem. This was more than cutting some pipe, unclogging it, and more than a plumbers wrench. Yes I could have gone elsewhere but I’ve got animals to check on. In the end it all worked out.

17/01/2024

Mirage and I having a one sided conversation

17/01/2024

The lower 48 got cold this weekend for most and Colorado was no different. I do much better in the cold than anything above 70, that’s the highest temperature my body can really tolerate. With the cold comes making sure your livestock are taken care of. Friday night was spent adding extra bedding for the goats and chicken, Mrs Duck, the LGD (livestock guard duck), was to be shooed into the goat pen, she’s a Muscovy, gotta watch those claws.

The rabbits are in hutches so I added straw to a corner and otherwise the front of the hutches get covered with moving blankets and tarps which seems to keep their water bottles from freezing quickly and keeps extra cold air from entering, either way they ate less and drank more this weekend.

The chickens were fed and watered in their coop, which isn’t their normal, but the last few days were an exception. One of them gave me two eggs in the frigid cold that actually weren’t frozen. I let them out yesterday when the temps warmed up for them to walk around. I left the goats inside because the warmth was only going to be for a few hours. They’ll be happy to come outside today.

Mirage loves to try and raid the duck and chicken feed, we’ve come to have our own language, sometimes I can just tell her no, and other times I go into angry goat mode to make her walk away. She may look at me as though I’m crazy but it allows the others to eat. In addition to extra straw I plugged in their heated water bucket. They drank about a gallon a day. I have water inside and outside for them and the chickens, I’ve been curious to know how much they consume in extreme cold, so this was a good weekend to take note. Stay warm out there my friends.

13/01/2024

Across the country the cold temps are about to dive in. While sudden cold temps aren’t ideal for livestock there are things we can do. Tonight I put the heated water bucket in the barn, added some straw, gave them more hay than usual and topped off their minerals, they are accompanied by their guard duck or as Flatland Farm Kinders called Mrs duck, they’re LGD, livestock guardian duck lol.

The chickens are nestled in with extra straw and graciously left me an egg this evening, they’re a bit confused. Tomorrow I’ll likely give them some of their grain soaked in warm water to keep them extra warm and take a few trips out to make sure they have fresh water.

The rabbits got some hay tonight to keep them busy and I just slipped the moving blankets and tarps over the front of their hutches to keep them a little more cozy. Winter farming isn’t always easy, but since there’s no snow on the ground it’s a lot simpler than it would be otherwise.

08/01/2024

Cooking and eating are on my mind Facebook thanks for asking! I love cooking and being creative. The girls like an abundance of tv that they didn’t get when they were little. Selena and Chef recently had a show featuring Chili Colorado tamales. It brought me back to a time in mh early 20s whwn I first learned how to make tamales.

Over time you’ll learn that I celebrate Halloween because I love it and though I don’t celebrate thanksgiving, the kids want the food, our menu decreases but I oblige them. Years ago when I had a fiancé he wanted to take me to his families big thanksgiving dinner. I declined because for me holidays are a strange time to meet someone for the first time.

He didn’t want me to be alone but I informed him I was invited to his grandmother and aunts home to make Tamales! That was probably back in 1995. Making tamales with grandma Contreras and Aunt D, then eating them and watching baby animal videos on VHS was a great way to spend a day with future family. What I learned was invaluable, there were no measurements, it was about the feel and the ingredients used. It was kept simple.

So Saturday I decided to make tamales for our Sunday dinner. I’ve been tasked with using the meat we’ve raised because my daughters think I’m a meat hoarder, so I chose a couple of skinless muscovy legs and the rabbit bellies from my October processing. I also decided to use my instant pot because why not!
So duck and rabbit Chili Colorado tamales, refried beans and Spanishish rice (I added coconut milk). The tamales were perfection. I ran out of meat with two tamales left to make so I used some oyster mushrooms, onions, Gruyere and the chili sauce for them, it was a great combination!