Farming in the Colonies

The Englaish colonists during the 1600's and most of the 1700's were mostly farmers.  Daily subsitence came from what was grown or raised on the land, not the store in town.  Trips to town were made on an as needed basis, mostly once or twice per year.  In town, the things purchased were the staples that could not be grown.  Materials for clothes, shoe and sugar for baking.  Very little money was needed, most didn't have much, for the yearly trip.  All else was produced by themselves.

Some farmers were innovators, bringing from England grass species that didn't exist in the colonies like Timothy and Red Clover.  These two species alone revolutionized farming at that time, providing better nutrition to livestock.

They also brought with them the potato.  This was an excellent crop for the small farm due to the high yield and good profit. 

Families increased their productivity by exchanging labor, materials and goods with each other.  They even loaned livestock and grazing land to others and worked together to spin yarn, sew quilts and shck the corn.  Barn raising gatherings were common. 

Their life style was more than agriculture, it was survival.  They knew each other and listened to, then met, each other's needs.  This begs the questions, do we know our neighbors, their farms and their needs?  Do we work together, not in a communal effort, but in a neighborly way?  Do we see the strengths of others to draw from and do we see the weaknesses to help with, or are we bent on making a profit?  Is providing good, local food to others a business, or a ministry?  Is there something to be gained from the past to apply to our farms today?

Colonial Farming Fertilizers-1610-1775

George Washington was the first to build a dung repository in America.  Of course we know, now that manure is great for the grass, but Washington's repository is the first place that kept dung for a period of time to let it ferment until it was ready to spread on the fields.  I would like to know how they spread it and how many acres (I will have to look into that).   Not only that, Washington was the first in America to fence off his pasture land to keep his livestock in and fatten them off.

It is also believed that Washington used creek mud on his fields.  The creek mud is high in nutrients and minerals and organic content.  (Visit Fertrells website for some info on similar organic products for your homestead, then drop me a line.  We are a Fertrell dealer in southern Missouri.)

For added fertilization, they used fish heads (I know, now I have that song stuck in my head too).  As they decomposed, they added nutrients and organic matter to the soil.

How does this info apply to your farm/homestead?

Farming In Colonial Times From 1610-1775

This is interesting.  We have all heard about this sort of thing in history class, or did we?  Did you know that until 1860 the vast majority of Americans lived on a farm?  Read this quote from Conservapedia on early American Agriculture,

"Colonial farming: 1610 - 1775


Plantation agriculture, using black slaves, developed in Virginia and Maryland (where tobacco was grown), and South Carolina (where indigo and rice were grown. Cotton became a major plantation crop after 1800 in the "Black Belt," that is the region from North Carolina in an arc through Texas where the climate allowed for cotton cultivation.[1]

Most farms were subsistence, producing food for the family and some for trade and taxes."

What I want to focus on is the last statement.  Subsistence farms, is there a lesson for the modern homesteader in this?  I think there is, the first focus of a homesteader/small farmer should be to provide for the family with his own land, much like they did in colonial times.  It never made much sense to me, growing up in the "Dairy State" of Wisconsin, to see local dairy men buying their milk at the grocery store, then going home to milk the cows.  Seems illogical to me.  Early farmers farmed for their own first, then sold what was left.  I think too many of us, today, get that backwards.

3 Steps To Preparedness

This information can be applied to as many things or circumsatances you can wrap your mind around.  Read more...

Homesteading On A Budget-Meat Rabbits

Wow, I promised to post about raising meat rabbits the day after my last post.  Next thing I know, its three days later, sorry.

Anything a homesteader that is interested in survival and prepareation can do cheaply is always a plus.  Most homesteaders I know are short on money.  Like me, they have to work a full time job because most of us don't start out on the farm.  Those that have are definately in the advantage.  But, the focus here is for the start up homesteaders and those that just want to prepare.

Raising meat rabbits is very easy and inexpensive.  The biggest expense is in the cages.  You can purchase ready made cages but they are cheaper to build yourself.  The only tools you really need are a tape measure, wire cutter and J-clip pliers.  Most guys keep most of the tools you need.

You can buy wire on line for the bottom.  You might get lucky and find it at the local hardware.  You need 1x1" hardware cloth.  For the tops and sides use 1x2" welded wire.  The holes need to be big enough to let the poop through.  Here is a good site to visit. I will get into the construction on another post.

Purchaseing your first rabbits is not going to break the bank.  You can find New Zealand Whites for $5 each.  Breed them and in a short time you have meat.

California's are another good meat breed.  There are others, but these two are the most popular.  Again, you can get started for very small investments.

A Simple Reminder To Congress

A Talk On Preparedness Homesteading

I just came in from milking the cow and starting the grill for dinner.  It is somewhere between 100-105 degrees and it has been that way for 3 weeks.  At first, the heat didn't bother me, now it is wearing on me.  I must be soft.  I know my feet are, if I had to survive without shoes, I would lose.  We took the kids to the river for a break from the heat.  While swimming, I cut the bottom of my foot.  I have always had tender feet, though.  I hope to never have to go without shoes.

This got me to thinking about the recent series of posts on this blog all having to do with preparedness/survival.  I felt like I had to make a disclaimer about this.  I am not an expert in the field of survival skills or being prepared.  In fact, compared to others, I know very little.  I do, however, think that good ideas should be shared some way, somehow.  Here on our little homestead, we try to be ready for whatever.  First and foremost, we need to be ready spiritually.  God has got to be at the forefront of all our thoughts and preparations.

That being said, what I am attempting to do here is share some thoughts and good ideas, things that just seem to make sense to me.  I don't spend every waking moment thinking of disasters and what I need to be prepared for my family.  It just makes sense to me that everyone should have some sort of plan for anything that might happen.  Like buying a machete, for example.  We have a homestead, we have fence line and animals.  It makes sense to have one.  I happens that a machete is quite useful in the survivalist arena.  All homesteaders and farmers could benefit from thinking outside the box and being aware of all the potential uses of tools.  This is because we should be thinking about all the potential problems that can arise in life.  Personally, I think trouble will come geo-politically.  Again, I don't want that to be the thrust of what we do, but it is on our minds.

As I get new ideas, I will share them.  You, my readers, are encouraged to share your, as well.  Tomorrow, I will share a bit more on being prepared with rabbits.  See you then.

A Note On Machetes

Here is a little tip in the use of machetes that I learned.  When clearing brush try not to hit any rocks.  I put a big chip in mine on the first day.  It was a big rock.

Visit this site for all kinds of good tips and advice on machetes.

Cheaply Preparing-Homesteading

When you desire to raise your own food, for what ever reason, you will need to consider space.  For now, I am sticking to animals, but will branch off into gardening later.

In my opinion, after you get your feet wet with some chickens, a good family milk cow is the next investment.  The breeds are myriad but I would stick to the smaller framed bovine.  They simply fit the homestead better and are, generally, easier to handle.  Disposition is crucial when choosing a milk cow, for several reasons.  You want to be able to milk her, not fight with her every time you grab the teat.  If you have children (like us) a gentle cow is a must.  I want my kids to love animals and be able to have confidence around them.  A mean cow can change all that.  I had one, trust me.  She scared the fire out of my girls.  Our current cow is a sweetheart and the girls love to "love on her".  If you rotationally graze (which you should), you want her to move when she is supposed to, so she needs to be gentle.  Also, if you have to "doctor her up", you don't want to feel like you have to sedate her to give her medicine. 

On the medicine note, I want you to know that the anti-biotics no longer phased the mastitis our cow had.  I was getting very worried.  I decided to religiously give her apple cider vinegar, which takes care of mastitis via the minerals, etc.  The apple cider vinegar did it, period.  It took some time, but it worked.  I made the connection when the stringy stuff stopped when giving the apple cider vinegar.  Then I would relax and quit giving it.  Within 2-3 days the stringy stuff would come back.  This went on for a couple of weeks, that's when I got regular (every milking) with the vinegar.  It has cleared up and both the cow and I are happy.  Just a tid bit for you.

More on the family cow next time, see y'all then!

Preparedness On A Budget-Farm Freindly Machetes

US Army Special Forces, Technical Manual, TM 9-1240-322-34&P, INFINITY SIGHT: 8635466, (1240-00-056-4854), 1980


When thinking of tools that you might need in order to survive, you might consider a machete as one of them.  The uses for this tool are myriad.  If the time comes when gasoline is hard to come by, or nonexistent, a machete makes a great brush hog.  I know that it is more work, but you do what you have to do.

These tools are great for agriculture, gardening/harvest, path clearing, cleaning the fence line, and even self defense.

To help you out and give you good info on machetes, I found a great web site for you to see.  It is chock full of information and will aid you in making a great choice.  To top it all off, I was pleasantly surprised at the prices.  You can buy a good machete, brand new, for under $10.  Yup, you saw that right.  So, check out Machete Specialists and you can make an educated choice. 

Happy shopping.

Preparedness On A Budget-Where To Start?

When thinking of starting to raise more of your own food, a great place to start is with a garden.  This is one of the simplest ways with the least amount of money to start.  It does not take a rocket scientist to grow food, either.  If you don't know a thing about gardening, ask those who do, or read books and magazines.  Learn all you can, while you can.

At the same time, you can be thinking about livestock.  Again, simple is best at first.  Start with a few chickens.  If you have never raised animals before, chickens are the way to go.  When they get old enough, they will provide you with food (eggs) and meat.  There are many breeds out there that can serve both purposes well.  Google some hatcheries to find one close to you.  Chickens are not too expensive and you can start off with a dozen pullets, or so, depending on what your needs are.  They don't eat much, love kitchen scraps and are peaceful to watch.  They really do bring enjoyment to your homestead.  Check your local ordinances, if you live in town or the city, because many places allow you to raise a few chickens in your back yard. 

Remember, we need to think outside the box.  Prepping for emergency means we need to do what we can to maintain our families safety and health.

A MUST HAVE book for homesteading information is Carla Emery's Encyclopedia Of Country Living.  This book has been invaluable to us.  You must have it.  You can purchase a copy at Amazon.

Preparedness Food

If you are like us, you care about the food your family eats.  It is not enough anymore to go to the grocery store and pick out fresh fuits and veggies.  The soil has been strip mind so badly that it takes much more food to get the same amount of nutrition from less food 100 years ago.  Not only that, the pesticides and herbicides that are sprayed on the food in the field can be dangerous.  All corn grown in the USA is Round-Up ready.  That means farmers can spray an exobitant amount of Roun-Up directly on the corn without effecting the vegetable itself.  I don't even want to get into GMO foods.

One of the key elements to preparedness is learning to be self reliant.  In other words, you might not want to depend on the government food pyramid to suggest what is good food and in what amounts.  Preparedness minded people, in general, have a certain amount of distrust toward the government, that is why they prepare.  We can't always depend on government agencies to come to our rescue.  It has been proven several times in the last few years what happens when we wait for rescue.

With this in mind, take a look at ways that you can provide food for yourselves.  Be creative, thinking outside the box.  If you live in the city, consider container growing.  If oyu live in the country, plant a garden.  If you can, get some livestock that can produce food on a continual basis, like a family milk cow.  As a side benefit, you will be providing good, real food for your family.  The primary benefit is, if disaster strikes, you know your family can eat.

This is a good website that can give you some great ideas and help get you started, if you haven't already.  If you already do some of these things, it is good to gather more information and try something new.  Have fun.