Make It Yourself - Getting Off The Grid

I chose to do this slow and I can say that at times I am overwhelmed by how much work there is to do, most of it I am now doing all alone. I don`t expect anyone else to do the work for me and I don`t want to pay anyone to help, that would be counterproductive because I want to live as free as possible and with little money.

The Power :

I was happy with this months power bill but it is poor man weather, not to hot for the a/c all the time and not cold. The power bill dropped from $240 to $150, I expect this to be the cheapest till fall.

The Vegetable Garden :

We have been getting rain at least once a week and that part I am loving because its just the right amount to keep the new plants watered but not so much it keeps me from working outside.

The tomatoes that were set into the ground are taking off so are the bell pepper plants. Yesterday just around dark Tony felt like running a couple more rows in the garden with the tiller so I raked one row down and set out the rest of the bell peppers I had grown inside from seed, yellow squash and zucchini. Tony wants huge rows of these two but I don`t, I don`t plan to sell this year and I still have plenty in the freezer. I will sow one row with okra seed for sure.

Read More? First planting of 2017  

Flowers :

At the end of one of the rows I sowed Marigold seed, when they are big enough I can plant one by each of the tomato plants to keep pest down. It was almost dark but I dug a small trench at the end of the deck and filled it with sunflower seed, I know I will have to thin them but I know I will have beautiful sunflowers and sunflower seed for me and I am sure I will have to share with the birds. I like to plant flowers that attract birds, especially in a place I can watch from a window. Double duty, pretty flowers and pretty birds.

The Greenhouse :

I have not had the chance to get anymore accomplished on the "clearing bush" project and I got rained out Sunday evening for mowing the back field.

For more :  " clearing For something, what will I build? " 

The Wild food :

The black berries are little green babies, I hope this will be another excellent year for the berries, seems I went through a lot of the blackberry stick I had, they are sort of hard to pick because of the thorns, maybe getting red bugs in the skin and even meeting up with a snake but I do enjoy the blackberry products I make each year.

Make jelly or jam yourself : How to make blackberry jam and jelly 

Hand Powered Tools :

I try not to buy a lot of things because we actually do not need household junk to live, especially more kitchen items, but around here we are fond of tortillas. I watched a lady on t.v. make the fresh homemade tortillas so I ordered a press for $10 and got a bag of the cornmeal mix to make them myself. This will actually save me money in the long run because buying a small bag can be wasteful since it takes so long for us to eat them all that sometimes they get stale and hard ( the dogs get them at this stage), now I can just make how many we need for a meal with no waste.

Although this is the beginning of May in the month of June I will be dealing with everything that needs tending to alone and I will be working two jobs, one part time and one full time. I will have a full plate and its going to be a challenge to see how tough I really am in my middle age years and to see just how much I can do on my own while working.

What is going on around your homestead?

By Andria Perry

Photo By Andria Perry