Gun Moment-Protecting You Daughter

Pioneer Farming

It has been said that all the American pioneer really needed was a gun, an axe, and a steel plow.  What are some things you need?

Old World Wisconsin-A Lnk To The Past

We made it back!  We had a great time in Wisconsin, visited some family etc.  We are very glad to be back, however.

As I stated before, we went to Old World Wisconsin while we were there and had a great time.  I will post some pictures and talk about a few things when we get them uploaded.  For now, I encourage you to use the link and visit the website.  If you are a homesteader and want to learn about some of the old methods, this is a great place to visit.  It is a outdoor museum with real people dressed in period garb that serve as interpreters.  You can learn a bunch about life and agriculture in the mid 1800's.  So hang in there, I will post more-I promise.

Use the link and visit their website.

Old World Wisconsin Visit

Wow.  I can't wait to share what we experienced at Old World Wisconsin.  My wife and I had both been there before but we were both very young at the time.  Things have changed a bit since.  What I was excited about is all the old time wisdom that can be gleened from farmers of old.  It is a great place tovisit and I will share more when we return from vacation.  Right now, I am using another internet connection and I don't want to use all the time.  I will put up some pictures along with some comments then. 

Keep in touch and God bless!

Vacation

We will be on vacation this next week.  Thank you to all who visit this humble place and we ask for your continued patience as we are away.  I will try to post while we are gone, but I cannot make any promises.  Thank you again and I'll see y'all when we get back.

General Washington Was Concerned About Farming In The New USA

During the latter part of his life, Washington became much concerned with the poor state of farming in the young United States. In a letter to Alexander Hamilton dated Philadelphia, November 2, 1796, President Washington wrote, “It must be obvious to every man, who considers the Agriculture of this country, (even in the best improved parts of it) and compares the produce of our lands with those of other countries, no ways superior to them in natural fertility, how miserably defective we are in the management of them; and that if we do not fall on a better mode of treating them, how ruinous it will prove to the landed interest.” (Quoted from Donald E. Howard Blog).

Not much has changed, has it?

George Washington Was A student As Well As Inovator

"Always eager to improve his methods and products in farming, Washington was a constant seeker of new ideas and information.  He owned a sizable library of books on agriculture production and maintained a correspondence with several farmers in the United States and in England regarding ideas on better farm methods and techniques." (Quoted from Donald E. Howard's blog).

This is one thing we can do today, without a doubt.  Read lots of books, talk to lots of farmers/homesteaders, follow blogs (like this one :) ).  There is a ton of knowledge and wisdom on homesteading to be gleend from the past and present.  What have you read lately?

Mount Vernon Agriculture

George Washington said that, "agriculture has ever been amongst the most favorite amusements of my life".  It is true that the man love to be at home, on his farm at Mount Vernon.

In a letter to a friend, Mr. Washington commented, "..I am led to reflect how much more delightful to an undebauched mind is the task of making improvements on the earth, than all the vain glory which can be aquired from the ravaging of it...".  It might be safe to say that Mr. Washington had an understanding of our inherrited stewardship of our home, the earth.

Even when away from his farm serving his country, which was much of the time, his thought were with his beloved home.  He wrote frequent letters to the managers of his estate giving them directions and planning for the opperation of the farm and asked for status reports on the condition of crops and animals.  He would ask how the new grass they planted came on and if the winter affected it.

George Washington was a leader of this country, but he was also a leader in agriculture.  Historians give credit to Washington for the mule through the cross breeding of donkeys and horses.  This turned out to be an excellent work animal that, he believed, was cheaper to feed than horses and easier to keep.  He also did many experiments with all kinds of plants to see which would grow the best in Mount Vernon soil.

A very interesting man, indeed.  Not just as a founder of this nation but as a farmer who loved the land and his home.

George Washington thought "outside the box" as a farmer.  What can we learn from this?

There are many garden and farm tools that we take for granted today.  If we need a tool, or break one, we head off to the nearest store and pick one up.  Often, we don't even thnk about the tool we're using.  I know, who actually thinks about their tools?  During mostly agrarian colonial times, they thougt about their tools a lot.  In fact, their daily survival depended on them and they couldn't just rush to the store and fetch a new one.

What if we were faced with similar survival problems in our time?  What if civil war broke out again?  What if we lost our ability to move freely about?  I bet we wouldn't take our tools for granted any longer.  Indeed, our lives, just like the colonists lives, may depend on our tools.

One of the most important tools on a colonial farm was a dung fork.  Yes, it is just what the name implies.  Back then, garden and farm tools were custom made and very hard to come by.  They were crafted by local craftsman and became a centerpiece of trade.

If tools were stolen, rewards were often offered for their recovery.  Bounties were placed on the heads of the thieves.  Tools in colonial times were a serious business, lives depended on them.

I will finish with a question.  Do you think ther may be a time we will need the use of hand tools again?  Let me know by leaving a comment.  Thanks for stopping by.

George Washington On Crop Rotation

General Washington was not just a great, revolutionary leader, he was a great farmer whose heart was always at Mount Vernon, even while he was away.  Can you see any wisdom in this for the homesteader who plants raised bed gardens?


"Consequently two things must be engrafted into our plan: 1st, Crops which are useful on our farms, or saleable in our markets, and 2d, the intermixing these crops by such relations and with such dressing as will improve, instead of exhausting our lands. To effect these is the great desiderata of Farming, and ought to be the pursuit of every farmer. On this ground every experiment is a treasure, and the authors of them valuable members of Society. "




George Washington

(Letter to Charles Carter, January 20, 1788)

Trying A New Approach To Homesteading Through Old Ways

I am a history buff at heart.  I got to thinking one day, that it would be neat to try something new for this blog.  Something that would attract the interest of more people.

Since many homeschool, homesteading, small farming, sustainable living folks tend to farm or homestead in an old fashioned way, with little powered equipment and little input expense, I thought it would be neat to meld my two interests together-history and homesteading.  Many of us tend to look at past farming methods to employ today.  Taking wisdom from old timers and how they did things 100 years ago, or more and applying an updated version to our homesteads.

Frankly, there is a lot we can learn from the past.  Not everyone can afford even a small tractor, so how did people get by before there were tractors?  Homesteaders did not have access to chemical fertilizers and pesticides, so what did they do to preserve the crop?  Speaking of preserving, what did folks from bygone days do to preserve their food?  These things are interesting to me and have some value to our modern homesteads.

This is what I'm going to do from now, until whenever.  I am going to look into the past for you and post it here and look for the old wisdom that can be applied to today.  This is something of value that, I think, all homesteaders can appreciate.  I know that I will benefit from this.  So, join in and tell all your homesteading friends to come along.  I think this will be a fun ride.

I can't promise a new post every day, but I will try to be more diligent for you.  At some point, I am even thinking of putting together an email news letter on this subject.  If you are interested, leave a comment and we can talk.  I am going to leave this up for a while so, for new posts scroll down.  Thanks for stopping by.

Cedar Cove Farm

Colonial Barrel Seeder

"Rid a little after Sun rise to Muddy (hole), to try my drill plow again which, with the alteration of the harrow yesterday, I find will fully answer my expectations, and that it drops the grains thicker, or thinner in proportion to the quantity of seed in the Barrel. The less there is in it the faster it issues from the holes. The weight of a quantity in the barrel, occasions (I presume) a pressure on the Seed through them, whereas a small quantity (sufficient to all times to cover the bottom of the barrel) is, in a manner sifted through them by the revolution of the Barrel. "




George Washington

(Diary entry, April 8, 1786)

I was looking at more colonial farming tools and came across a barrel seeder.  As you can see, George Washington used one on his farm, but I am having difficulty finding more information on these.  Can you folks help me with this?  If you know what, exactly, these are, let me know by leaving a comment.  Thanks for your help.  You may be helping future homesteaders.

What Is A Riddle?

Gottcha, didn't I?  You thought I was going to give you some cute, funny riddle you can take to your friends tomorrow-hehe.

This is a neat thing, I was looking at colonial time tools that were used on farms of the time.  I saw, in a list of old time tools, a riddle.  Of course I thought, what is a riddle?  Well, I found out and now I 'm going to share it with you.

Here is the short answer: A riddle is a large sieve used to separate soil or compost particles, or for separating soil from vegetables.


The word is an English word that comes from the middle English ridell.  It simply means "course sieve".  They are usually circular, made of Beachwood with a metal, hand woven wire mesh in the middle.  They are, generally 18 inches in diameter and have a mesh anywhere from 1/2" to 1 1/2".

They are used by gardeners to improve soil quality by removing unwanted material. 

There you go, how can something like this be applied on your homestead?