Preparing » Homestead Acres

Fall Is In The Air

Around The Homestead, Gardening 7 Responses »

Sep 212012

The weather has been quite cool lately. In fact we have had to use the wood stove on and off for a few weeks now! We’ve had the odd nice day, but over all it’s been rainy, windy and cool. One night recently it went down to 5C. I don’t think we had a frost, but I wouldn’t be surprised to get one soon.

We have dug up some of our potatoes to see how they did. We didn’t have high hopes for them after the terrible drought this year. Sadly, they have not produced well at all. After digging some from different areas of the gardens, we found that some didn’t have anything under them. Others had one or two tiny, tiny potatoes. The plants close to the compost pile had larger ones, naturally. lol But we noticed something very odd. The potatoes are light as a feather. As we picked them up, we were wondering if they might be hollow inside! No they are not hollow, but they are spongy and pithy. They will not be good to eat, so we are going to just till the gardens and try to pick up what we can for seed. Hopefully they will store ok, and not rot.

Like everything else this year, we’ll have to buy this years potatoes. Frustrating, but it could be worse.

Kim Mills on Google+

Around The Homestead ~ Hot And Dry!!

Around The Homestead, Gardening 4 Responses »

Jul 172012

Oh goodness, it is terribly hot outside today! The radio is saying our heat index is 41C and it might climb higher yet. Good news is there is a cold front coming through today and we might get some rain. Hopefully not the bad storms they are talking about though. The down side, although it’s a cold front, the weather forecast for the next two weeks does not look any cooler or less humid! Other then a slight chance of rain today, there is no rain in sight.

It’s been over a month since we have had any rain. Last time it was a 20 minute down pour and most of it rolled right off the lawns and into the road.

Most of our yard is looking like the photo above. That was taken in a shady area! It is impossible to water the gardens with the garden hose for very long without running the well dry. So I’ve been bailing water by hand, with the help of many little ones to! It’s a job they enjoy, don’t all kids love playing with water?!

I’ve also set up our washing machine to drain into a large storage bin. Then we carry that water out to the garden. Every little bit helps! I will be setting up another large bit with the garden hose running on just a trickle. As it slowly fills up I can water with that. Our well is shallow, but spring fed so it refills at a good pace. The problem comes when the water coming out of the hose is at a faster rate than the spring can fill back up. Other people in the area with wells 150+ feet deep are also running dry.

But we are starting to have some small harvests! A few days ago we picked a handful of tomatoes from the Stupice plants. I picked out that variety this year because they were a short season Russian plant. And the Farmers Almanac did say we would be having a COLD summer! Oh boy were they wrong! Yet these plants are producing the earliest for us. The beans are starting to!

How is your garden doing?

Eastern Ontario drought worst in a decade(o.canada.com)

Kim Mills on Google+

Economic collapse? Riots & Greece California

News/Economy 2 Responses »

May 162010

Kim Mills on Google+

Economic Collapse? Some Commentary And Personal Update

News/Economy 1 Response »

Mar 112010

We have some new ideas with this series. And sharing a short story form a friend about the economic stance.

Kim Mills on Google+

Winter Storms In Our Area

Homesteading, News/Economy No Responses »

Feb 262010

A winter storm came through Southern Ontario and the Eastern USA yesterday. We were just on the edge of it. For most of the day we had pretty steady snow and as the day went on stronger and stronger winds. All night we could hear the winds howling. Compared to many we are very lucky. We simply had a driveway to blow out as it had drifted in badly. Over a million people lost power in the USA from the storm, close to 5000 in Ontario. The news is reporting that not one highway in the Toronto area was accident free. Mainly from people not driving to conditions. We have had such a mild winter here and people seem slow to remember you need to slow down when the weather is bad.

Snow fall in Dutchess County New York

New York had 40cm of snow and for the 2nd time in a month (4th time in 6 years) had to close schools.

I do sit and wonder when I read the news how many people are really prepared for emergencies?

Especially in the Eastern USA that rarely gets heavy snow storms. They certainly have been hit hard this year. I have seen photos showing empty store shelves when heavy storms are predicted. If that is any indication, it is obvious that most people are not prepared for emergencies.

How many people wake up to no power and have no way to heat their homes? Or no food on hand that can be prepared easily? Many people don’t even own a manual can opener. It is so important to have our family’s prepared for emergencies. I honestly can’t count how many times having a well stocked pantry has helped our family. When a sudden job loss, storm, or blackout hits you don’t have to worry about how or what to cook.

Hubby took this vid this morning, having some fun blowing out our long driveway. The second video was shot last year. You can really see how much more snow we had then!

Kim Mills on Google+

Economic Collapse? 2009 Almost Over, Arrow Trucking

Around The Homestead, News/Economy No Responses »

Dec 272009

Wow what a year! Lots of changes, things we thought a year ago never happened and things we never thought would happen did. Also a little bit about Arrow trucking.

Kim Mills on Google+

4 Reasons To Keep A Pantry

In the Kitchen, Preparing No Responses »

Dec 182009

I have always been inclined to have a pantry, perhaps it comes from being around my Grandma. Who’s generation lived through the depression and was very skilled at stretching things. It seems that more and more people have fallen into the practice of shopping weekly for all their grocery’s. Keeping just enough food on hand for a few days. Through out my live I’ve seen many times why this is not a good idea. You really never know when having some staples stored up will be a huge help.

Storms

We live in a snow belt. Just last week the schools were closed for 3 days and the roads also. Yes they did open for short spells, but do you really want to drive on bad roads and then get stuck at town when they close again? It’s a wonderful feeling to see the snow falling and not have to worry that your short on food, water and other supplies. In the summer like wise storms can knock power out for hours or days.

Job loss

Another good reason for stocking a pantry is income loss. I can’t count the times hubby has been laid off work with little notice, or weather has reduced his work hours. Even a tax mix up can happen leading to your refunds being cut off. Yes that happened to us a few years ago. We went to town to shop and found a bill in the mail. We knew we didn’t owe it but it took months to sort out. Our income was greatly reduced during that time and we were able to live almost entirely off our pantry stores.

Price increases

Prices are always going up. In the past few years we have seen more frequent price jumps as inflation affects all sectors. Do you remember the grain crises a few years ago? Almost over night a 8 kg bag of rice went from $6.00 to nearly $20.00! Like wise wheat berries, as well as processed flour more then doubled. With the price of grains rising it drove the prices of all grocery’s up. Having a good stock of goods at home can help protect you from sudden increases. It allows you time to save up to restock your goods, and to watch for sales.

Savings

Keeping a pantry saves a lot of money! I don’t buy the same things every week. Instead I have a master list of what our family uses. I keep a base amount on hand at all times. I mark off a list how many we have used and when I see a good sale I can replace them. It’s even better if you can use coupons on sale items. This helps since I normally don’t get caught having to replace all items that go up in price at the same time.

Check back soon to learn how to keep track of your pantry.

Kim Mills on Google+

If the states go bust what does it mean for Canada

News/Economy, Preparing No Responses »

Dec 092009

Some thoughts on what would happen to the Canadian economy if the US experiences a hyper inflation or dollar collapse.

Kim Mills on Google+

Economic Collapse? Late Blight Affecting Potato And Tomato Crops

Gardening, News/Economy No Responses »

Jul 132009

With an unusually cool and wet summer the fungus late blight is hitting early. For the first time plants sold in garden centers are contaminated and spreading the disease in home gardens.

Late blight shows up as black spots on the leaves also a white mold. As it spreads the stocks turn black and die. The fungus also causes the fruit to rot.