Recycle and Build for Free

It's been a while since I've posted. We have been very busy here getting ready for winter. I've cleaned out the garden beds of everything except the herbs that can over winter and one pepper plant that is producing like crazy. I plan on making some hot sauce soon with them.

I added some old hay for mulch and planted some fall crops. Broccoli, beans and peas. I also planted one whole bed of garlic. Because the weather has been crazy here, warm one day then frost the next, it's started growing. I hope it goes dormant soon.

With the help of a friend, I built cages in our new rabbit barn that was done with all recycled or found material. Total cost for a 16 foot by 20-foot rabbit barn is about $10, and that is just for the screws we had to buy.

My husband and I went around our homestead looking for material. We found some good sized trees to cut down for the poles then added used lumber that we buy off the sale bin at Home Depot and already had here. Wire and left over OSB board from other projects finished it off.

My friend and I made built in cages of different sizes to accommodate young does, bucks, grow outs and mother's getting ready to kindle. It's a good thing we did because this morning my friend came over with five more New Zealand Red rabbits. One of them is getting ready to have babies next week, so our rabbitry is exploding in size quickly.

After that, it was time to make my front porch a Tory free zone. Last night she chewed up a foam filled cushion and started to eat one piece of my wicker set that is out there! That wicker set is also recycled . I got it at a thrift store a couple of weeks ago.

It's time to lock her off the porch for good so hubby, and I got an old table that we weren't using and put it on the side of our cabin away from the wind. Tory has a very nice large crate, so we put it on top of the table then wrapped it in some heavy duty plastic to make it waterproof. I had found the plastic at a yard sale a long time ago. We added a board to extend the roof then Bruce said that he knew where an old set of stairs were so we nailed those to the table so Tory can get into her house more easily. I put her food and water underneath and now she can't tear up things on the porch anymore!

What have you recycled lately? 

Homestead Happenings, Babies, Snakes and Birds

Lots of excitement around here lately. It's fair time in quite a few states this time of year and Tennessee is no exception. Bruce goes to college but only had one class on Monday so we headed to the fairgrounds for some good food and fun.

 We got there pretty early so the crowds were small. First place we headed for was the rabbit barn. I needed to find a buck that is old enough to breed to my girls because my guy is too young yet. Well I found a nice one for only $10 so went ahead and paid for him. We left him in the rabbit barn until we got ready to leave.

 That is not him but is what his breed looks like. After taking care of that business we went to see the poultry. After checking out all the different birds we found a set of four hens and a rooster that we really liked so they joined our ever growing livestock family.

 

The food was spectacular as usual. What's not to like about fair food? Greek Gyros, huge baskets of spiral fries with whatever toppings you like and of course the funnel cake with fresh strawberries! After all that we decided to walk it off by visiting the exhibit hall. Lots of fun stuff to see there.

On the way out we picked up our new critters then had a nice drive home. We set up two quarantine pens for the birds and rabbit then went to check on Betty as she was due anytime. I found her eating away contentedly and saw movement in her nest box. I of course had to take a peek. There were 5 babies! All looked healthy and happy so I left her to enjoy her new family.

Betty is an English Spot rabbit and a very good mom. Can't wait to see them grow. It looks like 2 spotted like her, a blue, a black and one red like the buck Fred!

Yesterday when I went out to do evening chores and collect eggs there was a snake in one of the hen houses! Eeeck! I hate them so backed out of the pen and screamed for Bruce. He knew by that tone that something was wrong and came running. My hero got it out and checked everything to make sure all was well.

This morning I started the day by getting kisses from our two horses. No better way to get going in the morning or anytime.

I decided to head for the garden where I gathered fresh veggies for my lunch. A caprese salad. Yum!

Lots of exciting things going on around here. I love fall! How about you? What is your favorite time of year and why?

Book Reviews and Stocking Up

You know when you are starting out or adding to your long term storage supplies for Emergencies please don't forget the obvious things like toilet paper, dish soap, laundry detergent and light bulbs. We all know or can get list of medications and what food to store but the above mentioned items are often forgotten.

Well today I made a trip to our local Grocery Outlet store to get some of those things. I try to shop for groceries just like I do everything else. Outlets, Dent and Dings, Warehouse stores and any other local wholesale places like Aldi's. I remembered to take my farm bags to load my groceries in too and for me that is awesome because I sometimes forget them.

You can find some great deals as long as you do your research. For instance I got 8 boxes of Rosemary crackers for 50 cents! I also got bleach for 39 cents a bottle. A lot of different canned goods for 40 cents to 69 cents.

After getting home and unloading everything in the rain, yes it's finally raining here thank goodness, I checked the mail and found one book I'd ordered called Prepper's Long-Term Survival Guide by Jim Cobb. I just got started reading it but I like the way it is laid out so far. I'll let you know more after I'm finished with it.

As I started on it I heard a truck out at the gate so I went to look. It was Fed-ex with another book that I've been waiting to get called Butchering by Adam Danforth. This book is a must have for all homesteaders. It is all about how to butcher small animals including rabbits. It is well written in simple language with tons of pictures.

Here are some great links to find food in bulk which is another great way to save money while stocking up on what you need.

1. Little House Living has a good list.
2. Bulk Apothecary is another good place to check.

Have you added to your stash lately?

Road Trip for Rabbits

Well after yesterday I decided to take it easy today and just did a little gardening, cleaned out my rabbit barn for the new arrivals and then chilled on our boat while hubby cruised the lake.

Do you raise rabbits? This is a new breed for me and I can't wait to start my breeding program. These are pedigreed Champagne D'Argent's so I may show them at some point. I have been wanting to get this breed for a while. We are driving about an hour and a half to pick them up. How far have you gone for the right animals?

I do this a lot. I'm willing to travel quite a distance for the right breed or bloodlines and besides, who doesn't love a road trip! I like to see where they come from and how they were kept. It says a lot about the person you are buying from and you can see the quality.

The last thing on the agenda today was planting a Weeping Willow tree to harvest in the future for the bunnies. I feed all naturally and this fits right in with the menu for them.

Ours is not this big yet but will be in a couple of years.