Snowed In

Hoping that snow is insulating our sweet honey bees

 Our road

Bob and Terry, our pigs, eating and then heading back in to the shelter, they aren't fans of the snow

Homemade pizza outta the woodstove, yes please

Sled, eat , repeat. Oh and bring some more wood in, haha..



Mother Nature snowed us in starting Friday evening,, Here we are Tuesday, and our roads are still a mess.. Getting out of here is a long haul in good weather, so you can imagine what 7" of snow will do..

Its been a wonderful 3-4 days.. Full of sledding, eating, baking, laughing, and spending time together.. yeah we are getting a little stir crazy, but a good walk in the woods can fix that right up ;)

There is something amazing about these moments in winter. We work so hard all spring and summer to grow our food, preserve our bounty, split wood, so we can enjoy the feeling complete self reliance.. we supply our own power, heat, water, and food...its a comfort worth all the work it takes to get to that point..
Go ahead snow us in for a couple weeks....,  KIDDING! haha,, no thank you.. It sure has been beautiful, but there is a reason I am living a wee bit south of where I used to live....

We are supposed to warm up quite a bit and get rain, which means the first 12 miles of my commute out of here will be 12 miles of MUD,, fun stuff.....

So for now we are snuggled by the woodstove enjoying the snowy view from inside....


Blessings
The Cools

A mild( and busy) November

Well, its been a bit since I have posted, I do apologize! I promised myself I would post often, and well to be honest time just kinda slipped by!
as usual we have been very busy around the homestead.
While bee and garden season have come to and end, there is still a lot of wood to be split and stacked, and bees to feed..
Despite the warm days, ive still found time to hide in my favorite nook, my sewing room, and start another quilt!

 

We have also been working on some small projects around the house! Sometimes a little paint and a new bookshelf can really brighten up a room, and so that's just what we did! The living room received a new coat of paint in a gorgeous "azure winter". The color was really hard to photograph, so between that at your monitor it might look blue.. But its more of a very pale bluegreen very subtle and really brightened up the room. We added a delightful bookshelf to our new little nook ( 10 desk painted by moi, and all) which is made out of barnwood and some black pipe. Of course some birds nest adorn it as well, I just love bringing things from outside, in to the home. Snail shell collection and all;)

I also just finished a Headboard for my daughters New room ( if you read the previous posts, we did a small remodel on her room,, added a closet, painted etc)
It is made out of pallets! The idea of course was from Pinterest, and I am very pleased with how it came out! I don't usually paint, so was a bit nervous about messing up the dandelions, but surprised myself ;)

And of course, with the chilly night upon us ( even though the days have been quite mild) we have been firing up the woodstove! ohhh how I missed baking! we do not have a regular oven, so all baking is either done in our solar oven, or the cookstove.

Yesterday; after a full day of splitting and stacking wood as a family , we made homemade pizzas, one of our favorites ( especially miss Norah!) I have posted the recipe for the dough below..This recipe will make 2 pretty big pizza crusts.
We decorated ours with Kale,Shiitake mushrooms and peppers from the garden ..
A blessed day here! I love the days we spend working together as a family.


Pizza Dough

2 1/4 tsp Dry active yeas
1 1/2 very warm water
4 Cups Flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp Olive oil

put yeast in warm water and stir, let sit until it starts to froth and bubble
add oil to yeast mixture
Make a well in the middle of the flour and pour in yeast mixture. mix with spoon and then put onto floured surface and need until smooth . Put in oiled bowl and cover, let sit for 20 minutes,,,
Roll out dough and place in pizza pans ( I use a cookie sheet)
Bake crust for about 15 minutes at 350... pull crust out of oven and then add sauce toppings and cheese
Baking for another (approx.) 20-25 minutes, or until cheese is browned and bubbly :)
enjoy!

Prepping for winter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I thought I would give you a quick run down of how we prep for winter here......

Prepping for winter at our homestead is a year long process. From the first seedling that emerges from the soil in late winter, to the sweet potato harvest just before frost, it takes a whole year to get to this point.

Our pantry is chock full of ; Beans, Tomatoes, salsa, pickles, pickled peppers, carrots, chicken stock, all sorts of jam, apples, peaches, applesauce, apple cider, grapejuice, and I am sure I am missing something ;) We will be adding more shelving this winter as well. As you can see I am running out of space!
We have about 70 lbs of potatoes , along with some winter squash, some crazy gourd that voluntarily took over half my garden, and have yet to pull our sweet potatoes(note the empty basket),
All of this is grown right here on our homestead.

We have about 15 chickens in the freezer currently and have 15 more meat birds arriving next week. We may end up canning some of them as freezer space is limited. Being off the power grid we only have a small freezer above our fridge, so processing chickens in batches of about 15 is how we are doing things for the time being.
Chicken sausage is on the to do list as well....

I just finished up canning some  apple cider today ( stay tuned for that post), and we are going to whip up some hard cider next ;)

Hauling, cutting and stacking wood is a constant around here. It seems we fall behind during the summer months as we are so busy with the bees ( busy as a bee?? hehe) that time just slips away from us, and then before you know it we are scrambling to catch up.
Robb is amazing at "catching up" . Every year he manages to haul, unload, split and stack between 9-11 cords..I suppose when its your only source of heat, hot water, baking and cooking, you find a way to make it happen.

We have loads of honey, no shortage there !( that is what all those buckets are on our cookstove)
I believe we have 3 =5 gallons buckets left. Enough for us and plenty left over to sell...

and of course, eggs from our layers.....

Next, I will make a trip and stock up on rice, beans, sugar, flour, coffee and other essentials ..

A batch of Meade from our honey is on the list as well. This will probably happen after wood is done being split and bees  season is completely done.

As summer winds down,and the Farmers market comes to an end next month and our income dwindles a bit our goal  is to be as self sufficient as possible during the winter months while we do not have that extra income coming in.
Having a limited weekly grocery bill ( about 40 dollars/week) and limited bills in general( no electric, heat , water, garbage, cell phone , cable etc) allows us to live fairly comfortably on a smaller income.

Feeling pretty confident in our food and wood stores, ready for the snow to fly.  It was 41 degrees here this morning, time to fire that cookstove up!


Blessings
Jaime

Homesteader of the Year

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some exciting news here at The Cools.
I am sure many of you are readers of Mother Earth News Magazine ( and if not you should totally pick up a copy, best magazine ever!)


Anyhoo, we were recently informed by them that were have been selected as ; Mother Earth News Magazines 2015 Homesteaders of the Year!

You can find a small article about us and our Homestead on page 30 of the Current Aug/Sept issue!
Or you can read about us here online

http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/self-reliance/self-reliant-living-homesteaders-of-the-year-2015-zm0z15aszkon.aspx

we are the second story titled ; "The Bees Knees"


We are just honored and completely tickled ( and still in shock) to be chosen for such and amazing title by probably our favorite magazine ever!

Just thought I would share this exciting news , and hope to get a more lengthy post in here soon!

Blessings!
The Cools

A Glimpse of the Gardens

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I absolutely revel in this time of year, soaking in every beautiful moment. The gardens are thriving and growing rapidly! Soon the bounty with be plentiful!!!!
I am maintaining 5 gardens right now.. I added a 5th this year ( not pictured) , in which I planted  30 additional tomato plants, more beans , carrots and bunching onions. I also have a smaller side garden which is home to Miss Norahs Garden ( I am sure she will want to share some pictures soon, maybe after she weeds it, haha)
The bugs don't seem to bad so far.. which is strange.. I have seen the cabbage moths fluttering about and have been covering my cabbage with some floating row covers

Right now we are feasting on  Chard, Kale, arugala, lettuce radish, cilantro and sugar snaps.
We should be able to pull some new potatoes, bunching onions,beets, blueberries, and carrots soon!

The only hurdle we have had so far this season, is lack of rain, So I have been having to water. Luckily the days have been super sunny which allows me to use our hose . Our well is run off of Solar so I can only use the hose when the weather permits.. I have been watering by hand as well, but the rainbarrels are near empty again.

What's growing in your Garden??

Snow, Ice, and the aftermath of Backwoods living

So, we did get some snow on Monday! It was not near the foot of snow they were calling for but we did end up with about 5" of the white stuff followed by icepellets falling from the sky for about 4 hours....
We spent Monday  hiking, baking, eating, and staying warm.... It was a lovely day!

Now.. we deal with the aftermath

I realize to some 5" of snow and ice doesn't qualify as snow storm ( we know we know that you northerners get like 10 feet haha)
But with where we live, 5" of snow, covering a thick layer of ice can be crippling here.


the first 12 miles, in and direction of our commute is narrow( sometimes single lane) windy , rugged( depending on which you way go, some are worse than others) dirt/gravel road...

Could I leave in this weather? maybe, but its an awful idea, especially with a kid in the car.....

No guardrails , just big ol drop off into the forest or the creek should your car decide to slide, and there is no turning around which can pose a problem, not to mention not a single person around( especially when its like this), trees in the road,, and yeah..... you get stuck, you are pretty much screwed..
There is NO cell service here for about 40 minutes, ( we dont own one)so you cant call anyone either,,...

This is JUST to get to a paved road. this is 2 days after getting 5" of snow......

My commute , to get Norah to school, or to go to town is : 12 miles of gravel to get out of the national forest, then 4 miles to get to a crossroads, this crossroads is our "town" it has a gas station, post office and a small mountain  school of 300 k-8th grade
Then to get to a small town with a grocery I drive another 10 miles
Total travel time : about 40-45 minutes to get her to school and about and  hour to town.

so now we deal with the aftermath, which will go as follows
frozen ice roads , slush, and then the worst part.........MUD .......



Not sure we are leaving this week at all,, the temps are going below 0 again tonight so the road is going to stay a sheet of snow covered ice.. and they don't plow here,, unless the forest service contracts someone out and that takes about a week before anyone shows up.

Hope everyone is staying warm,, after this arctic blast, I best see some daffs popping out of the ground :) Ive got peas to get in the ground too , along with apple trees to move as soon as we thaw out!
for Now Im thinking like a Chicken,, I'm staying in ;)

Blessings

The Cools

Giving Thanks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Homegrown with Love: chicken sausage, potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing with homemade bread crumbs and chicken broth
, green beans, applesauce, Pumkin Pie,  Delicata squash, and grape wine..

 So thankful For Family, a roof over our head, and our *health*.. How blessed are we to bring this bounty from  our homestead to the table?

Wishing you and yours a wonderful and blessed Thankgiving!


The Cools

Starting a fire, the easy way!

Ok, so after 6 yrs of having our cookstove, you think I would be a pro at starting a fire. Truth be told , I was ok at it. and as a lot of your woostove folks out there,  I had those mornings where all I wanted was a warm house, and I couldn't get a fire started for the life of me ( ok I got it started eventually) without a lot of smoke and generous amount of  swearing mixed in, haha..
My husband tried to convince me to start a fire his way, being stubborn it took me a couple months to agree.. and let me tell you, THIS IS THE WAY to start a fire... set it and forget it,, lights up every time perfect!!
We would like to take credit for this technique, but Robb actually read it somewhere in Countryside Magazine a few years back.....and individual had wrote in , explaining how to start a perfect fire every time..  and he was right, so whoever you are,, Thank you!!

Ok, easy peasy

                                            * set 2 small logs on each side of the fire box

 

 

 

* place newspaper , paper etc in between the logs

 

 



Place Kindling wood on top of newspaper in cross cross fashion. we use stick sometimes, but love cut up pallets for our kindling.

 

 

Light it up!

 

 

Let me know how this works for you!  I don't think I'll ever start a fire another way :)


The Cools

Friday Night activities

Friday Night activities with my 2 favorite people. A perfect way to unwind  from a  long day.

Blessings

The Cool Family