Welcome to Mama Homesteader!

Follow my family in year 3 of our homesteading journey. Along the way we try to answer the question ," What can one small family do to change their lives on little more than 1/10th of an acre?" Let's Find Out!

Monday, October 31, 2011

1900 House- Part 2

 Here is the second installment of "1900 House" courtesy of effectiveideologeme on Youtube!


















Hope you enjoyed this installment of "1900 House"! I will return again tomorrow with the last installment of the series, as well as my response to watching the series.


CHEERS!~  Mama Homesteader

1900 House: Part One

A few years ago I was excited to find a show airing on PBS called " 1900 House." Being the history nut I am, this show is right up my alley. The concept was taking a modern British family, modern being 1999 in this case, and transporting them to the year 1900. The family would live a full three months in house that would have been typical for the middle class at the time.

The following clips are the first seven parts to the series. They follow the creation of 1900 House and the first day of the Bowler Family at their new abode. Special Thanks to affectiveideologeme for these clips!

















I certainly hope you've enjoyed these clips. I will post two more series of clips this week so that you can follow the series to its end. In the future I also plan of including "Frontier House" and "Regency House" for your entertainment.


              Cheers!~ Mama Homesteader

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Root cellaring with No root cellar

Also known as the Great Carrot experiment:)

I went to the local farmer's market on it''s last day, October 18th, for my last chance at a huge selection of fresh produce. What I walked away with was 12 bunches of carrots, more honey, and lemongrass. And yes, I bought that many carrots on PURPOSE:) All summer I had visions of root cellaring these yummy treats, because quite frankly, store bought carrots pale (more like albino) in comparison.

All the sites I visited suggested storing root vegetables in either damp sand or damp sawdust. This year I'm opting for damp sand because we just happened to have two bags of play sand and an empty tote. So I carefully layered  my carrots and sand, then tucked it all in my hall closet. It's not precise by any means, but its cold. In the fall and winter, its warmer than the outside but colder than the house. Good enough, at least at the moment.



After safely tucking my carrots in for the winter, I went on vacation for the weekend. I had planned on grabbing one or two for kiddo on the long drive to Virginia, but forgot them in the rush....



What I found when I came home ( at this point they had been stored just over a week), dumbfounded me. My carrots had started to sprout. Apparently I needed to take the tops clear off and had forgotten to do it. So I had to redo my carrots all over again. The turnips are fine being stored the same way. The squashes are hanging out in a basket and are doing swell for now.





Now to kick back on this little experiment, save for weekly checkups, and savor those yummy carrots all winter long! I'll post come spring on how this worked for us!


                                                           Cheers! ~Mama Homesteader

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

The Joy in Life

The joy in life is one's friends and family. When someone asks me where I'm originally from, I don't tell them Canton (where I was born) or Alliance (where I lived most my life and graduated high school). I tell them Paris. Paris is a small one traffic light town south west of Alliance. But my fondest memories are of my childhood there, and of the beloved friends that lived there.

I just received news that one  of those friends, Dan, lost his long battle with cancer and other illnesses. I could write an extensive piece on Dan and his role in my life, but I will simply state this: He brought many smiles and much joy to my life. I will certainly miss his sense of humor!

                                                                     
                                 I love you Dan, and I will miss you  very much!
                                                   Mama Homesteader

Praying Mantis

Really haven't seen too many of these in recent years. But his big fella is welcome to eat all the squash bugs he wants!





~ Cheers! Mama Homesteader

Algonquin Mill Festival 2011

    This year marked the second year in a row that we have attended the Algonquin Mill Festival in Carrollton, Ohio. When I was a young child, my family would attend every so often. I have a lot of fond memories of the smells of apple butter and sorghum, antique farm equipment, and homemade crafts. It's been awesome to share these memories first hand with my daughter!

    This year Papa John ( LOL my Father-in-Law, not the pizza place!) couldn't join us, but Nini Pam still did. And of course, Papa Harry was at the festival packing sauerkraut in the kraut house.

But here are a few photos from our day:


  Entrance to the Mill Complex.
                                   


   Ready to ride the mini steam train!

                                               
Sarah's first pony ride!
His name was Macaroni:)

 
Sitting pretty in the Schoolhouse:)


 In heaven among the "Bump Bumps."


Hayride with Nini Pam and Papa Harry.





    A little Bunny Friend!








We had a unbelievably nice day. The weather was warm and sunny, a beautiful fall day. Everyone was tired after a long day, and kiddo slept VERY well that night!!

If you're ever in Ohio during October, check out the Festival. It's well worth the trip!

                                               ~Cheers! Mama Homesteader

Friday, October 7, 2011

Mama vs. the BIG Apple

And no, I don't mean New York City. LOL. After a day of apple picking at Stahl's Farm Market, my friend Julia (Chef Momma) snapped this picture. I have to laugh because at the last moment I decided to ham it up, and I'm glad I did. That Gala apple is frickin HUGE!




I'll be heading out again in nicer weather this weekend for at least two more bushels (I bought three last weekend). This time will be even better, because I'll have my munchkin with me. She's going to have such a fun time picking apples, if we let her get too carried away I may end up with WAY more than I planned for ;)


                                                   What makes you Laugh?

                                               Cheers!~ Mama Homesteader

Belated Garden Update!

After a lot of problems with uploading videos directly to the site, I switched to Youtube for videos. So here it is- a belated update on the garden!



My apologies for the very late posting. After my post "Heartbreak on the Homestead"  I suffered an injury. While out in the garden, I stepped in a previously unknown hole and twisted both ankles. I was laid up for quite some time and still have stiffness problems. But I'm back on track with projects around the homestead, FINALLY! As we are heading into fall I'll be preparing the garden for winter and ultimately spring. I will post a video soon detailing my future plans of garden expansion and current plans of garden winterizing.

                                                    Cheers!~ Mama Homesteader

Monday, October 3, 2011