M.D. CREEKMORE

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This Week On The Homestead

Well, folks here we are another week on the homestead and another week working and prepping towards our goal of becoming more self-reliant. Nothing beats the feeling of doing something with your own two hands when knowing that the end result will be that you are less dependent on others.

And that is the goal here at MDCreekmore.com and that is to become less dependent on others, corporations, and government. And the most effective and productive ways to do that is via homesteading, prepping, and a home business.

Okay, now let’s get into this week on the homestead…

My Homestead
This week I planted two more dwarf apple and two dwarf peach trees.

These are the apple trees that I planted and these are the peach trees…

I also added a thick mulch of straw around my other dwarf fruit trees. These are ones that I planted last spring.
Chicken coop
Cleaned out my chicken coop to get it ready for the new chicks to be transferred into it. (This is before cleaning.)
Coop after cleaning (several days after) and 12 new Golden Comet chicks added.

This week I also ordered the book – The Blogger’s Simple Guide to Taxes: A Guide to Saving Time and Money, however, I’ve not received it yet.

Well, folks, that’s it for me on the homestead this week – feel free to add what you did on the homestead this week or what you did to prep this week in the comments below…

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Looks good. Suggestion: Might pull straw back an inch or two from the trunk of the trees. Mice like to live under mulch and eat bark on young trees.

  2. Nice coop. I have some chicks due for delivery in a few days.

    This Week:

    We had tornado damage in my area, but we were spared. The local news stations are reporting, “at least four tornadoes touched down.” Thankfully, no one was injured. You never know what your TEOTWAWKI will be.

    **We had a gift basket silent auction at church for a youth group fundraiser, and I had the top bids on a couple of baskets. The Mexican food and Watkins Products baskets contained lots of items, including the following prep items.
    Large tin of cinnamon, large tin of garlic powder, 11 oz. bottle of vanilla, 3 packages of gravy mix, 2 seasoning packets, bottle of taco seasoning, bottle of pure orange extract, bottle of pure lime extract, hand cream, lip balm, dish towels, dish cloths, potholders, measuring spoons, measuring cups, small containers with lids, and a couple of nice baskets.

    -Added to the stockpile: flour, spices, trash bags,

    -Goats: Got enough feed to last for about 2 months. Cleaned out the barn, put in fresh straw, and put the doe due to kid soon inside. Last year she kidded outside and lost two. I don’t want a repeat in this cold weather we’re supposed to have.

    -Chickens: When we went outside on Easter to hide eggs for the grandkids, we got an unpleasant surprise. The Basset Hound wanted to play with the little chicks so badly that she tore up the newly repaired henhouse to get to them. We had a ‘chicken rodeo’ and gathered everyone up and put them safely in the coop again. DH made more repairs to the coop. It is our smallest coop, but I still like it.

    -For the house:
    *Still cleaning, purging, and organizing. I’m currently working on my sewing/craft room. I also have a few things stored there.
    *We met with a carpenter to get bids on building a sunroom and large porch on our house.

    -Homestead: Met with a man about building a large front porch and an informal back sunroom on the house. The sunroom will double as a greenhouse until I get one…hopefully.

    -Garden: Seedlings are doing very well. I can’t wait to get them in the ground, but it’s still too early.

    -Information: It seems that every time I sit down to read, something comes up and I don’t get much done.
    *Reading fiction, putting myself in the characters’ places, and thinking about how I might react.
    *Still reading our host’s book. I highly recommend it. It would also make a good gift.
    *I bake a lot of cinnamon rolls, but haven’t made loaves of bread in quite some time. (I buy homemade bread from a local Mennonite store.) I’m back to baking my own bread again. I think it’s important to keep all of our skills honed.

    -Health: I’ve been considering LASIK for quite some time. I went for a consultation this week, and I’m scheduled for the surgery on April 20. I’m looking forward to it.

    Be prepared. Stay safe. He’s in charge.

    • PG

      I would reconsider LASIK. I worked for an opthalmologist group for a number of years. I am nearsighted and was offered LASIK for FREE. After reading a great deal and discussing this with some other doctors I decided against it. Sure I could go 20-30 years without glasses and that’s a great inducement. What I discovered was eyes change over time and shape basically determines whether one is nearsighted or farsighted. If I had the procedure I would need glasses to read later in life. I only wear glasses now when I go out and do not need them to read.

      TEOTWAWKI tip: find Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone episode with Burgess Meredith. I would not like to find myself in those circumstances for any price.

      Susan

      • I would not even think about Lasic surgery. We had one of our state senators who was having vision problems so people talked him into Lasic. After several surgeries he is almost totally blind! I’ve heard nothing but bad reports about the process. Look up Denny Rheberg, FROM Mt..

    • I would definitely recommend lasik.
      I have always been very near sighted and as I got older I couldn’t see to read either. It got to the point where I had headaches all the time and couldn’t see anything close up.
      The doctor did the surgery with the goal of one eye for close and one for far, and I love it!
      I see everything for the first time in my life.
      If I need a pair of glasses down the road to see well, it will be a minor adjustment.

    • You would love the Bregdan Principle series by Ginny Dye. I think there are 12, but we have learned a lot and there are many situations where you can think of what you would do.

  3. I had a productive week on my homestead!! Bought 2 Florida Gold peach trees and added them to the permaculture section of my garden. The second batch of ham and navy bean soup is in the pressure canner (used the leftover ham and 2 ham bones from Easter dinner.) Splurged and ordered the entire Foxfire Series of books! As an avid reader, this makes my heart very happy. I plowed up the easternmost side of my garden twice so far, preparing to plant pigeon peas for the goats and chickens. Should get the seed planted this afternoon. Last, but most important, we paid off the mortgage on our house.

    • Goatlover2 ,

      Splurged and ordered the entire Foxfire Series of books! As an avid reader, this makes my heart very happy.

      I purchased the first 6 books back in the 1970’s when they first came available. #7 as I recall was all about various mountain religions that didn’t interest me, so I purchased no additional books after #6; however, the information in those first 6 books is amazing. I tried recipes for different foods, many of which I had already eaten, growing up in the Appalachians, and even made some black powder (gunpowder) from scratch from one of the recipes. I sent off for plans for a dulcimer that IIRC were something like $1.00 and a business sized SASE and managed to construct a working, if a bit crude instrument. I think the entire set now contains 12 books and I suspect you will really enjoy them all.

      I plowed up the easternmost side of my garden twice so far, preparing to plant pigeon peas for the goats and chickens. Should get the seed planted this afternoon.

      Unfortunately we’re still a week or more from plowing or tilling anything, since we just had another thunderstorm and have had a total of 4.8 inches of rain in the last week. Our last frost date is May 15 and hopefully it will be dry enough to do something by then.

      Last, but most important, we paid off the mortgage on our house.

      Congratulations. We paid ours off more than 20 years ago; but, I still remember the freedom it gave us, both financially and emotionally.

    • Congratulations on paying off the mortgage, Goatlover. I’ve got another 10 years to go.

      • LOL! Are you strong in the medical field? That’s my weakest link in self sufficiency. Got the food system pretty much squared away!

    • Congrats on paying off the house. I have three of the FoxFire books with the remainder on my shopping list. I do have the benefit of being able to purchase them locally if I choose to do so.

    • That is awesome that you paid off your mortgage. We have really doubled down on payments, plus pay every two weeks. Love the FoxFire books as well. I think it’s the first five that are the best, but they will easily sell on Amazon or eBay if you find you don’t need them all. Really a renewed interest in them. I would love to have some of those old folks with knowledge as neighbors. I guess that’s partly why they started the books.

    • G2, congrats, I plan on paying mine off soon, but was thinking maybe the 1st of 2019. Get one more year of write offs. I can pay it off right now but……

      Do you have screaming goats ??? The Mrs loves thoughts………

      • I have Nigerian Dwarf goats, which are a miniature dairy breed. They ARE very vocal at times—like when they are in heat, or when they are being weaned. I have 4 kids being weaned at the moment, so milking time in the evening is pure torture…the kids are screaming like someone is skinning them alive! After I milk the mamas, they get to spend the night with their babies. All is quiet in the morning because they’ve had mama’s milk through the night! LOL

  5. Again, we really didn’t add much to our stocks this week.

    Free Stuff: a 16.9 oz. water

    Nearly free stuff: $.99/lb. whole chickens @ 50% off.

    We got a letter, dated 3/21 received on 3/31, that our family doctor is leaving the medical center we use. Not sure what is going to happen next. No major problems that I knew of, but who really knows.

    DW wanted to start getting the local paper again, so we now subscribe to the e-news addition. It’s definitely easier than the paper addition for us, no disposal issues, and with the elections coming up, we will be a little bit better informed. The e-edition looks and reads like the regular newspaper.

    Paid our taxes; Federal, State, and vehicle.

    Major acquisition of the week: I got my “politically-correct, home-defense rifle”, a Ruger PC Carbine in 9mm. No muzzle break, no pistol grip, and if I paint it, it won’t be black either!

    • JP, how is that PC……you’re break-aphobic, grip-aphobic,caliber discrimination and racist…. LOL

      • Thor1:

        So far it is just getting the magazine type change over, changing the bolt to the left side, and adding a light.

  6. We celebrated 16 years of marriage this week. We also ordered and received row cover plus we started our okra seeds. The garden is now 30’ by 50’. Taxes also got filed.

    That’s about all. Prayers for all in need. Looking forward to seeing what’s on the new site.

  7. I put an offer on a house yesterday. I’m trying to get out of my apartment. It’s very limited what can be done to be self-sufficient in an apartment.

  8. I love all what you have done and Peaches, are so good. Another rain system is moving up the coast line and we are being hit hard we will see how many power lines go down or if we loose power at all. I restocked all my baking supplies, and topped up spices that were getting low all bulk items from Winco. Hubby, bought two cases of water on sale for his work van, I bought two cases at a different store on sale to keep one in the car and one in the house. I found some wheat flour and dry canned four pint size jars, and filled up two quart jars with more rice and dry canned them too. I put oxgyn absorbers, in two quart jars of dry mash potatoes, to use later on I plan on doing the same with powder milk. Still to wet to plant but I’m getting my potato patch ready to plant, raspberrys are leafing out so are the Elder, and blue berries, replanted three Strawberry plants, they are thriving in their new plot. Harvested my aloe plants put the aloe in a mason jar with a plastic screw on lid on and put it in the fridge I bought the rice at the dollar tree, they have a new package the rice comes from the USA, 2 pounds for a dollar “Windmill rice Co” out of Arizona, I believe the rice they had before was 1 pound and was imported can’t remember where I never bought it I only buy USA, or Canada. Have a bless weekend 🙂

      • MD, I’m curious.. what varieties did you plant. Just an FYI on the peaches- I’ve had a horrible time east of you trying to grow peaches. They only stay small and hard before they fall off or are taken by squirrels. I found out that our local Farmers market brings their big juicy peaches in from Georgia!! They aren’t supposed to do that. I’ve had my peaches for 10 years. Elberta, Hale Haven, and and another freestone type. Thanks for any info you care to share.

          • That’s a good price for a dwarf anything. They are going for 25-35 here.

          • If u can find a Rural King, they have many dwarf fruit trees, all about $25 each. Or, order online?

            • We got ours from Stark Brothers Nursery via mail order and they have the best quality plants. It was bare root trees and dwarf size.

              • All,
                I’ve been told that the semi-dwarf last longer in years than the dwarf. I bought mine last fall at Lowe’s when they first came in. They are all doing well except the fig tree. My peach tree looks exceptionally good. At least it did before this weather. Haven’t checked it today. Hoping for the best.

                • AT – are you sure you’re in Fig zone? I can grow them where I am (several neighbors have them), but they don’t do well just a little north of me.

                  • GA Red,
                    I’m in zone 6b. These figs will grow in my area. Osborn Prolific, Blanche, Desert King and Verte. I will have to find the tag for it… You know they sell stuff at these places that just don’t make it. I have my receipt, so if I need to, I will dig it up and take it back.. Going to a nursery and getting my plants, I am sure I would have had one that was guaranteed to grow here. Sometimes it’s worth paying for their knowledge. At least you know something will grow, and I think that’s who told me about the semi-dwarfs.

                    I just went out and checked, and it is still ok. Just not as big as I thought it should be, and only has 2 small branches. Will have a better idea in a couple of weeks I suppose…

                    • We have issues with the local Home Depot selling stuff that’s not suitable for our area so we’ve located a nursery in NW Georgia that has more detailed information on their website about growing zone compatibility. I also do further research on the University of Georgia Extension website to verify varieties and get even more information about them. It was a big reason we planted plums instead of peaches. While I love peaches, they are a PITA to grow due to insect and wildlife issues. Someone the DH works with grows peach trees and only does it because he loves the spring blossoms. He has never been able to get fruit because they are either bug eaten or the deer steal them.

                  • I have Celeste, zone 6b also. My first fruits last yr. Had Brown turkey, but the location wasn’t good and after three years it died.

  9. Quiet on the prepping front.

    Read up some more on gold. Forbes magazine has a worthwhile comparison of three bullion dealers here: