Homesteading Goals for 2016

      After my post on Looking Back on 2015, Justin and I really discussed a lot about what we can do now to start accomplishing our desire to homestead. There is so much prep work and research we can do this year as Justin finishes school and we still don't have a home to call our own. We are calling this year, THE YEAR OF EDUCATION! After we are well-versed, we can decide what we really want to focus on, and then it will be easier to shoot for those specific goals instead of just pondering the generic idea of homesteading.

Before ground

       FIRST objective we have already begun. A huge preliminary step into a homesteading mentality is doing whatever you can right now even if you are not in your ideal location. Justin has spent the last month tilling a piece of land in our back yard to start a humble garden. It was a lot of work since the ground he worked on consisted of was mostly hard clay and huge rocks that plants cannot thrive in. So he aerated the ground and moved all the bulky rocks. He then put nice dark, nutritious soil on top to plant the seeds.

After five days of tilling

       We decided we wanted to use heirloom seeds, first for the organic factor (they haven't been altered over the years), and second, with heirloom seeds, you can keep using the vegetable's seeds to replant each crop. A lot of seeds aren't able to keep reproducing. We read that people who start up a garden do all sorts of random seeds they find in the store, but they encourage you to pick plants you really want to eat and already use in your diet. This way you aren't having this huge garden and then wondering what you are going to do with items you don't enjoy.
      I will talk more about our fun little garden in a later post. We are just praying with all the El Nino rain that it hasn't drowned all our hard work!
      SECOND area we want to focus on is who will be learning and researching what. We want to use our unique gifts and interests to divvy up what we want to grow our knowledge in. It also helps us quicken our growth by sharing the research load, then later on we can inform each other on our new skills.

       Justin loves gardening, animals, and herbology. I love the art of fermentation, textiles, and tincture making. With Christmas money we have bought a bunch of books to start off our research. Our first books include farming, premaculture, goats, homesteading, and a healing by herbs book. Most of these books summarize the basic, over-arching ideas which will give us a better view of what we are getting ourselves into.

       Yes, a goat book. We love the concept of having goats! Goat milk tastes so good and is extremely digestible compared to cow's milk. And... they are so cute! Well, the Nigerian Dwarf goats are smaller and cute. Alongside goats, we definitely want chickens. They say chickens are the 'gate-way' animal into homesteading. They are really easy to take care of and give you lots of eggs in return and eventually meat if you want to go that route too!
       I have loved getting into green tea kombucha, here is my post on how to start your own, and seeing how easy and delicious it has been, makes me want to dive into all sorts of fermented foods. They are beneficial to your gut and add healthy bacteria your body needs to properly function. We are looking into trying sauerkraut, water kefir, and pickling vegetables.
      We both love herbalism and creating tinctures to aid the body in fighting off sicknesses and increasing daily nutrition. There are so many 'weeds' that people overlook that are helpful, like dandelion and goldenrod. It will be so enlightening to study hundreds of plants and herbs that we may have heard about but never knew how amazing their potential was. Also, people sell tinctures for a ridiculous price, and people will pay it for their healing properties. Being able to create our own will be a huge money saver, and eventually if we succeed in it, we could make a profit producing and selling our own.
       THIRD is the idea of starting an unique podcast to add to our blog. With our blog, we are trying to seek ways of standing out of the crowd and bringing new and interesting ideas to the blogging world. One fun part of Family As We Go, is that we want to be a couples/family blog, not just a mommy blog. We want to incorporate both our perspectives on our life and family. Justin has always had a knack for speaking and teaching, so having him use his gift in a podcast could be an excellent addition to our blog. We do not have a specific route as to how the pod cast will develop yet, but are really excited for what may come with including it. 
        FOURTH important focus is learning what location and to what extent we want to be homesteading. We first need to look for our ideal location and use that as our basis of what we want to do. Do we want to build our own home or go with something already in place? What kind of alternative energy to we want to use? Should we have a home next to a river for water and food access?
        Right now we are looking at Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, three states which seem to offer what we are searching for. We love the alpine trees and mountainous atmosphere, and there is a lot of open land available, and right next to some of the national parks. It These areas really have everything that Justin and I love about nature. There is a lot more land to be purchased in these states. Growing up my whole life mostly in California, I have been in 70 degree weather my whole life = I am a wimp with cold. I am excited and nervous to finally get out of my comfort zone and adapt to the changing of seasons that will come with a move.
        Keeping in mind all hopes and our desires, the LAST focus will be finding "the place" after all the research and pin-pointing the area where we most want to settle. This will probably be something we come to at the end of this year when we have a better grasp on what it is we are after. However, we will always be ready for the unexpected.

"Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God." Corrie Ten Boom

Kombucha: Brewing My First Batch of 'Booch

 Home-brewed Kombucha.

Two words I've been pondering for quite some time... And now I am making it a reality.

     Kombucha has so many great health benefits including liver support, detoxification, aiding digestion, and it can help with weight loss. It is a great drink to add to your daily liquid intake and I know I feel so good and regulated when I'm on it. The problem: Store bought kombucha is priced ridiculously! I started calculating how easy and inexpensive it is to home brew your own: once you have all the equipment, the reoccurring cost for a one gallon brew is $2, which per serving is only fifteen cents!!! Or you can just shill out $3.49 for a store bought one. I knew this would be my new fun experiment and hopefully a new part of my routine.

     Every kombucha is based around the living, slimy-looking scoby = symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. You can find an allotment of good scobies on Amazon, but I decided to go with etsy.com. I really like the idea of supporting small businesses when I have the opportunity, and I know that is what Etsy is made up of. I found a really good inexpensive culturing seller who does all sorts of things like scobies, water kefir grains, and milk kefir grains. Her site's here. She was having a sale on organic scobies for only $3.99 with $3.99 shipping! Umm, yes please, I'll take ten... oh wait, that is what is awesome about scobies, they make babies each time, so if you take good care of him, he will keep producing new ones.
     So I will admit, I killed my first scoby! And it was like loosing a pet, I was really sad! So after burying him with tears streaking down my cheeks, I... just kidding. I reordered a new one from my Etsy pal, and she was so sweet and sent me two scobies (probably from pity). She also gave me free trials of milk kefir which was an awesome addition I had been wanting to try as well.

*Ideally I would love to be able to have a whole fermentation area dedicated to kombuchas, 

kefirs, sauerkraut, and pickling veggies. But as I have mentioned before, I kind of jump 

into things too quickly, so Justin lovingly reminded me to get good at kombucha first, then 

we can add on another project. Fermentation is also a great homesteading act that we 

can start learning with I have talked about wanting to do in my blog post A Homestead.*

      I decided to do a green tea base. After researching, you need to choose either a black, green, or oolong tea. If using white, rooibos, or herbal, you have to mix around 40%/60% with either one that they say to use for optimal scoby health. As I've said, it is all about the scoby! I decided to go with green tea since most research points to the higher health benefits of green opposed to black tea. Also the usual kombucha I opted to buy at the store was the GT's Multigreen Kombucha which is green tea based, so knew I would like the flavor. Kombucha brewing is actually a very simple, easy process, and like most fermentation, depends on patience to let the bacteria and yeast do its work.
Here are my steps to brewing and I will note where I messed up and killed my first scoby to hopefully save you from the pitiful death of your own.
 One, make sure you have all the equipment which needs to be cleaned carefully since you are dealing with a healthy live bacteria. You do not want the potential of bad bacteria to grow and cause harmful mold. This is the equipment for a gallon brew of kombucha.

      A gallon glass jar (preferably with a large top opening for the scoby to grow). Good organic sugar. Black or green tea from a reputable source making sure the ingredient is camellia sinensis, proving it is real tea leaves. A healthy scoby, starter kombucha from a previous batch or a store boughten plain kombucha like GT's Original. Choose either a cheese cloth, paper towel, or kitchen towel. Since I am doing a secondary fermentation to produce a carbonated kombucha, I also got mason jars (or you can use flip-top jars -anything airtight).
 Two, you start with making your sweet tea. I brew about half a gallon of purified water, do not use tap water. Since I used green tea, I stopped the heating of the water at 170 degrees instead of boiling so as not to burn my tea leaves. There are many different amounts of tea you can use (every 'booch maker has their unique take), I decided 10 packets would be a good first batch. I let steep for 10 minutes, then took out the bags and added 2 cups of sugar. It usually only calls for 1 cup, but when it's your first batch with a new scoby, its better to chunk him with more sugar than less!

***IMPORTANT! You must be patient and wait for the tea to cool to below 81 degrees or your scoby perishes!!*** yes it was late at night and I had just put Cedric down to bed, I was impatient (when am I not?)... RIP poor Toby the Scoby. I realized if I didn't use the whole gallon of water during the sweet tea making, I can pour the cool rest of the gallon into the tea to help speed up the cooling process.
Three, once the tea is at room temperature, you can put all the water in your CLEAN gallon glass jar. I got mine for pretty cheap at World Market, I was having trouble finding a large open mouth jar in normal grocery stores.
Four, pour in the 1 cup starter kombucha, store bought or from previous batch (many times when you order your scoby, the provider will send enough starter liquid to help preserve the scoby during shipment and to help in your first batch). That is the one negative point from my Etsy lady, I did not think I had enough starter fluid which is my second mistake from my first batch ***Have at least 1 cup starter liquid to make sure the scoby will survive too.***
Five, you are now ready to touch that weird creepy-looking scoby. Do not fret, it didn't feel as slimy as I thought it would (or maybe I just feel in love with my little pet so it didn't matter!? Sort of like cleaning your baby's diaper, you love them, so you get pass the stench. For me it did not feel as weird in my hands as expected) Just handle carefully and make sure your hands are clean!!! And by all means do not have anti-bacterial soap on your hands, that would kill your poor bacterial yeasty pal.
Six, cover with a loose cloth and rubber band to keep in place. You are done! Put in a room without direct sunlight and preferably a warm place. When in a cold area, it takes longer to ferment. I keep mine in the nursery room since at night there is a heater to keep Cedric's little feeties warm.

Smart to add the date you started each batch to keep track of time!

      Fermentation is a great practice for me, helping with my patience. You have to wait anywhere from 7-30 days depending on how sweet you want the kombucha. I, being sugar-free these days, wanted the scoby to feast on most of the sugar so I am not drinking a sugar-filled drink. Anytime after 7 days you can put a straw in and get a taste. The longer you wait the more tart the kombucha will be. My first batch I put into the mason jars to have their second fermentation for carbonation. When I tried it after three days, it was still really sweet. I am thinking since I had put 2 cups of sugar for the first batch that it had made the kombucha way sweeter then a normal batch would be with the same fermentation time. So I am hoping with my next batch that I have already started that I won't have to wait 30 days to make it less sweet!

Look at those nice carbonation bubbles!

       Also with this next batch, I am going to add berries, ginger, and a few drops of liquid stevia to the second fermentation to add a different flavor. I am very excited. The flavor mixtures are endless and can't wait to perfect my kombucha making.

  If anyone ever wants to try making their own kombucha just let me know. I will gladly let you adopt one of my baby scobies! I would feel so wasteful if I ended up just throwing them away when they have produced too many. And look at how beautiful and healthy they look?!?  That, or I read they can help make an awesome mulch.

Have you tried kombucha before? Ever think of making it on your own? Have you tried fermenting other things?

A Homestead: Possible Goal or Wishful Thinking

Justin performing at Legoland

       As many of you know, this year has been an interesting limbo year for our family. We gratefully - but unplanned - had our baby boy Cedric five months ago, which had me stopping my work at Trader Joe's to take care of him. Justin is only able to work part time at Legoland as he is on his last year of getting his masters degree in Celtic Studies. With not a large income, we moved in with Justin's parents as we needed the help as he finishes up his schooling.
       We always talk about our future and the exciting possibilities that could come from different career choices and places to live. The huge decision that is imminent over any decision is the career Justin can find that will be able to provide for our growing family no matter where that might take us. Lately we have been on the same page and excitement when we talk about the idea of homesteading, whether it be right here in Southern California, or across the country, or even across the world. It has been our daily prayers for discernment as Justin finishes this school year. Isn't it awesome how with no clear sight on the future, you can be at peace knowing God has a plan for your future? 

     

     So Homesteading. What is that you may ask? Here is a little background.

       The term historically traces back to when our country was opening up the American West. Homesteading was the reference used to granting families land at low to no cost to encourage them to farm and tend the new unpopulated land. This helped spread people to sparse, unpopulated areas to pioneer and establish communities which in turn helped establish the government more. Fast forward to the 1970s, homesteading evolved into being a new lifestyle for tens of thousands of young rebellious souls who wanted nothing to do with the cultural norms of suburban living but rather to return to their old rural ancestral roots. Today, it has evolved once again into mostly meaning living off the grid and the use of self-sufficiency.
        If you asked twenty different people the meaning of homesteading, you would probably get twenty different answers. The fundamentals range anywhere from growing herbs in your backyard and buying eggs at your local farmers market, to having acres of land and producing all your food from farming and animals. Today we live in a consuming culture. With homesteading, you are trying to decrease outside consumption as much as you can. It's really about getting back to the natural, unprocessed living and supporting simple lifestyle.

So the first big thing for Justin and me was to define OUR perception of 
homesteading to see if it was something we wanted to pursue.

       Justin looked at the two words 'home' and 'stead'. Stead, as in steadfast, a home that is strong and self-sufficient. The idea that we created is to have our own safe harbor, that if we needed, could live off our land for weeks without needing to go buy anything. It's creating a home that you love and can stay in. We love the idea of having a few acres of land to have a huge garden, animals, and even natural energy sources, of trying to create a productive home. We also feel being technologically smart matters too. Technology is a great asset in today's world but one that is often exploited, over used, and draining. We would move to basics; internet for blogging and work, lights, TV for the occasional movie, and household appliances. That would be it for electricity and of course plumbing and running water. We aren't trying to be Amish...!

       A homestead, though, comes with its potential drawbacks. First, it's hard work. Period. There is potential to produce 50-80% of the food you need, but this will require constant maintenance. Feeding animals, milking, weeding, planting, watering, harvesting, storing, and always room for more. There are times where it's going to feel like just work, and won't be as enjoyable. We believe that through this it will be rewarding, after all, nothing good comes easy. Second, a homestead needs so much constant care that it would be hard to take a break from it for long. This means, not much for vacationing, maybe a few days here and there or a week. But if we want to create a pretty self-sufficient home, it would be hard to leave. Which can be good and bad...

        So, why do we think this a viable possibility? As you probably know, Justin and I are so in love with all things natural and yearn to research and discover more and more about health, nutrition, and simple living. With that in mind, homesteading is right in line with our lifestyle. Also, being a stay at home mom is not a choice that comes easily, but we feel like it's our responsibility as parents to mentor and raise our children. With homesteading, the whole family (feeling the possibility of 4+ kids!) could tend the homestead while Justin is working. We would be able to save a lot with what we could make on our own. With less technological distractions it would give us more time to invest into homemade crafts and textiles which means less money spent having to buy the things we think we need.

      Another huge decision we feel called to do is home school our children. What better way to home school then to be out in nature, hands-on tending the land and learning about the earth. I feel like learning in the moment and from experiences is way more powerful then a classroom being talked at. Also, I have no peace in sending my children to a public school in today's day and age. I could do an entire post on the reasons I don't want to send my kids to public school: the standardization, too large of class of student to teacher ratio, teachers aren't paid enough to care, students grow up not feeling like they matter or are unique. Looking at all the statistics comparing homeschooling to public school pretty much just sums up the solidity of why I will home school. I want to be able to give my children the best I can as they grow and help instruct them with their individual needs and desires to learn. But this has drawbacks too. Being at home so much, more so if we decide to create a home in a more rural area, we would need to take extra care to make sure our kids have friends and a social world outside of us.

If that's not motivation to home school I don't know what is...

     So what are we thinking of doing to prepare for the maybe of our future, RESEARCH research RESEARCH! We want to figure out and be well-versed in different aspects of homesteading. We want to learn how to take care of goats, chickens, and other useful animals, what plants to crop for the area we live in. We want to look into crafts and textiles like soap-making or knitting that may help with self sustenance and lower outside costs.

It's funny how when I was younger, I always made fun of "tree huggers" and "mother nature fanatics," but the older I get the more I am turning into one. I realized though, if you take out all the unnecessary "mother earth" jargon and decide that you are truly just appreciating God Almighty's beautiful handiwork, I don't mind being labeled as a "naturalist" in that definition. If we are appreciating God's glorious gifts of soil, forests, animals, and herbs to its fullest, I feel like as a family we are worshiping God through that and truly being blessed by what God has blessed us with.

         All in all, if we want to make this hopeful wish into a goal, we need to prepare for it, and all that it encompasses, and know all that we are getting ourselves into. Once you choose a homesteading life, its pretty hard to untrace those steps. 

I will leave you with scripture that always encourages Justin and me about the unknown future:

Matthew 6:26-29 "Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single cubit to your life's span? And why are you anxious about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory did not clothe himself like one of these."

We truly appreciate prayers as we trust in God's direction and opening of doors in our future! Does homesteading appeal to anyone else?  Or are we just a few 'naturalist hippies'? What is an ultimate goal you have had that may have taken a long time to achieve?