our homestead: goals and non-goals for 2013

New Year's Day in the morning in our apple orchard. Hello 2013.

What a beautiful New Year's day! After a fun-filled New Year's Eve at my mom's house which is found over the river and through the woods, I awoke back at the Swan Slough, with bright morning light shining through my white bedroom curtains. 2013's New Year's morning had a little fog but there was some blue sky and sun peeking through. Very peaceful. Gave me a strong feeling of optimism and hope for 2013.

 

Anyway, with the birth of a new year here, I wanted to write about my goals and non-goals. I previously wrote such a post last year here. Goals are what I want to achieve during 2013 and non-goals are pretty cool or memorable things I either accomplished or experienced during 2012 which weren't on my original goal list. I'll also re-visit my goal list from last year to see how I did. Enjoy this long jump of photos from my year on the way...



 

1. The Winter Wonderland week in January. The dogs loved playing in the snow.

2. Prepping my greenhouse soil in late winter for spring planting.

3. Starting seeds on almost every windowsill in the house.

4. My cousin Jessica came to stay. We adventured north to Bellingham together.

5. Bringing home my first chicks and ducklings.

6. Transplanting tomato starts into the greenhouse in early spring.

7. My troop of Muscovy ducks, gifted to me by a friend.

8. A mystery morel mushroom sighting in my garden. I wonder if more will pop up this year...

9. The budding vegetable garden with early spring radishes.

10. Banjo "Longfellow" growing into a sweet shepherd.

11. I hatched my own ducklings.

12. Rainbow beets from Frog's Song Farm. Took this photo while working a farmers market.

13. My vegetable garden in full swing.

14. Free range ducklings, growing happily in the pasture.

15. I harvested our 2-year wedding garlic.

16. We had an abundance of tomatoes this year come out of the greenhouse.

17. Camping at Coal Lake.

18. Working my first Anacortes Farmers Market with Shannon of Frog's Song Farm.

19. My husband and I bought property near a small bass-fishing lake north of the Swan Slough.

20. I made the most of apple season with weekly crockpots of spiced apple sauce from the orchard.

21. My husband and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary with dinner on the Shilshole Bay.

22. I saved many flower and vegetable seeds to plant in the 2013 growing season.

 

 

non-goals from 2012

1) I turned 25!

2) I think it's safe to say that this was one of my craftiest years yet. I completely embraced my inner girlscout. In a nutshell, I knit a giant wedding blanket for my sister-in-law, designed a 1960s inspired dollhouse for my little nieces, sewed gnome babies and toy whales, dried and bagged my own tea, made fancy twig ornaments, made collage-covered mason jar candle holders, printed my own fabric, constructed a giant ombre wedding cake pinata and more. I might have scars on my hands from my gluegun at this point. 

The ombre wedding cake pinata. And that's the bride. Photo credit: Nickel Images

3) I attended a reunion for my dad's huge side of the family hosted in San Diego and met many people including extended cousins and their extended cousins. I even had the chance to pop in and visit my Oma (my mom's mom), who also lives in San Diego.

 

4) I made it into the mountains for camping and hiking much more than I expected to get the chance to this summer. I even explored the entire perimeter of one of the mountain lakes we camp at each year (a mini-adventure I'd been meaning to embark on). This included climbing through a jungle gym of scraggly bank trees, bouldering, wading and climbing up a steep hill by holding onto roots.

 

5) I adventured on two trips with my big group of sister-in-laws. Once to a cabin in Chelan in the summer and once to a cabin near Leavenworth in late autumn. We enjoyed eating good food, girly movies, wine and relaxation (save for a dare-devil trip off-roading in the Volvo..that is a story!).

Chelan. Photo Credit: Nickel Images

Leavenworth area. Photo credit: Shop Wintage

6) In August, I boated all the way up to the San Juan islands, spent the night on Lopez and boated home with my dad (the Captain) and the Joe's (my brother and my husband). We saw a pod of orca whales splashing through the waves and stopped the boat. I watched the magnificent creatures pass by from the roof of the boat, bobbing up and down with the wind whipping through my hair. What an amazing experience.  

 

7) I rocked out to and band-vanned around with my husband's new band. Joe and some talented musician friends started an Iron Maiden tribute band called 'Maiden Voyage'. After their first show, they were hired by Ninkasi Brewing of Eugene, Oregon to play and promote the release of the 'Maiden in the Shade' summer beer at some cool bars throughout Western Washington.  My husband is the guy singing in the wig below. I look forward to showing my kids these photos of their dad.

 

8) My husband and I bought wooded property near a small bass-fishing lake about 20 minutes north of the Swan Slough. This was a huge step and accomplishment for us...kind of like buying our first home. We plan to build a small house this year. I wrote a little more about the property here.

 

9) My youngest sister-in-law tied the knot on November 25th. I was one of her bridesmaids and helped her craft awesome decorations, grew baby succulent wedding favors for her,  attended fun events in her honor such as a Sparkle Bridal Shower (where she beat up the pinata I made and I wore my mom's 1970s disco butterfly top) and a bachelorette party at the cabin near Leavenworth and helped setup decorations before the wedding. I remember her wedding day, held in downtown Seattle, was cold but bright and sunny and she was one of the most beautiful brides I'd ever seen.  

The bride in Volunteer Park on a sunny November day. Photo credit: Nickel Images

 

goals from 2012. how did I do?

 

1) To establish rows of interesting berry plants including: goji berries, honeyberries, gooseberries, lingonberries and hardy kiwis. We have already pre-orded three goji plants, due to arrive in April. We'll probably have to build some sort of trellis...but that means I can also throw a few more hops into the yard.

 

I did plant a few varieties of berries: hardy kiwis, gojis, honeyberries and lignonberries. I built a simple double hooped trellis out of two cattle panels for the hardy kiwis near our firepit area and they did fairly well in establishing themselves this year. I hope they will grow stronger this upcoming summer. The lignonberries also did well in our front yard. I don't expect to get much fruit from either the kiwis or the lignonberries for a few years. I might transplant the lignonberries to our new property since they do well in woodland environments and will stay relatively small, but I will probably leave the hardy kiwis at the house when we eventually move. The goji's fell prey to deer as I planted them at the bottom of our pasture for maximum sun exposure. I do think they would do well in our climate though, so I might try them again in the future. My honeyberries met their unfortunate demise at the end of a weed whacker by mistake. I did however enjoy a few berries quite early from these tiny evergreen shrubs, so I would want to plant these in a safer spot at the new property. Their fruit tasted like a blueberry.

 2) To raise a small flock of chickens, perhaps a duck or three, in the spring. I grew up on fresh-from-the-backyard eggs and nothing beats the flavor. I'm still lucky enough to be able to bring home eggs from my mom's house, but I'd like to learn how to take care of my own hens.

 

Ha ha, I definitely accomplished this goal. In March of last year I brought home 5 chicks and 3 ducklings, then was gifted a small flock of full-grown Muscovy ducks from a friend who was searching for their new home. It makes me laugh that my original goal stated having "perhaps a duck or three" as at one time this summer I probably had nearly 20 ducks roaming our backyard. I am so lucky I got to experience the wonder of hatching eggs. Granted, my momma ducks did all of the work with tending the eggs, but I'll never forget the day I opened the nest box door and found a tiny yellow ducky. I am very thankful to all of my birds and am glad I had the chance to get to know them.

3) To grow even more than 2011! This year I really want to learn how to grow broccoli, cauliflower, fennel and leeks, and melons in the greenhouse. I've also already ordered red brussel sprout seeds...it'll be fun to see how these turn out. Joe has his heart set on doing a giant lacinato kale patch too. I'm also looking forward to seeing how my saved tomato seeds fare.

This year I'm proud to say my gardening skills improved. I grew radishes, broccoli, kohlrabi, two varieties of kale, yellow carrots, three varieties of onions, garlic, fava beans, snap peas and english peas, arugula, chard, a few varieties of potatoes, zucchini, delicata squash, tomatoes, peppers, heirloom sunflowers and many herbs and edible flowers. I didn't grow fennel, leeks or cauliflower though. Maybe I'll try again this year. My tomato plants exploded this year! I'm sure some of this ample harvest has to do with the fact that I took really good care of my greenhouse soil months before I transplanted my tomatoes. I amended the soil in there with nutritious worm castings, compost and beneficial microbes. The weather was also much more tomato-friendly as the season progressed. We truly had an Indian Summer as I was harvesting tomatoes up until Halloween. My previous year's tomatoes also appeared to have cross-pollinated as the seeds I saved and planted this year developed into these colorful and fruity chocolate-pink tomatoes. I look forward to seeing what they'll become this year. Plant genes are fascinating.

4) To grow a massive sunflower patch. Why not? I saved so many sunflower seeds this year that I just might have to grow a big plot of sunflowers to nap underneath. I want it to be so big that you can see it from the road below my hill.

I should have taken more photos of my sunflower patch when it was in full bloom! In the first picture above, one can see the just-about-to-bloom big patch of sunflowers right outside my chicken coop (to the left), which provided the birds with lots of cool shade, protection from hawks and a tasty, nutritious snack as seeds began to appear. I also grew a patch of mixed heirloom sunflowers. Icey white Italian sunflowers, pink 'Strawberry Blonde' sunflowers, sunflowers so burgundy they were almost black, 'Teddy Bear' sunflowers and more. I dropped a few vases of sunflowers at loved ones' doors throughout the summer to share my happy bounty.

5) To make more soap!

Here's a picture of some of my mom's amazing all-natural milk soap for sale at a farmers market this year. Sadly, I didn't concoct much soap this year, but maybe I'll whip up a few batches with the help of my mom this year. I did make a few hand scrubs, but I don't think that counts.

Good ol' Calvin and Hobbes. Picture found at: The Nerd Files

goals for 2013

The fun part! My goals for 2013! I already foresee this is going to be a busy year. Friends of ours are having babies, passing Bar exams and getting married, and in our neck of the woods we'll start building our little house. Here are a few things I hope to accomplish in the coming year:

1) Have a livable structure built on our property by August. This seems like a far-fetched goal to me as I'm trying to keep our timeline for building our house realistic, however, we are building a small home, so we might be able to do it. On January 7th, my husband and I will be meeting with a Seattle representative for UBuildIt. UBuildIt is a building consulting business which caters to people who want to build their own homes with the flexibility of hiring friends, completing DIY work themselves and with hired help contracted by UBuildIt when needed. My husband and I are supposed to bring photos and sketches of our house idea, and any other property information our UBuildIt guy can use, to help us start drawing up professional house plans to submit to our county development office for permitting.

2) I have an idea for a handmade accessory for something I could use (and I'm sure there are other strange folk like me who might use it too). I can't say what it is yet, because no one else has made it, but I've been working on the design and making a few prototypes. Once I have everything to my liking, I hope to make a few to sell online as a little hobby job. I decided to list it here on my goal list to keep me motivated as it's kind of clever.

3) Grow more tomatoes! I feel like I'm cheating for writing this one. I'll be starting my tomato seeds in the coming weeks.

4) Taking a mini-vacation somewhere. Maybe a weekend in Portland with a gal pal? A train ride up to Leavenworth for a few days? Some sort of mini overnight adventure. Or two. Or three.

5) Interview and feature at least one entrepreneur, small house builder, etc per month on this blog. Again, I totally feel like I'm cheating for writing this as I already fully intend to write about cool folks such as these on this blog.

6) Swim, swim, swim this summer. I love swimming and it's the first thing I miss about summer. I've been dreaming of a warm sunset splash and am already counting down the days until summer. Did I mention I'm still in denial that summer is over? I realized that on New Year's Eve at my mom's house as we were standing around the bonfire...we were talking about the bears who inhabit the forest around her house. I was sad when I realized they were hibernating because...it's winter!

Happy 2013 Everyone!

DIY almanac: bring home a living Christmas tree for replanting later

 

A Living Balsam Fir, all wrapped up in burlap and ready to be planted after Christmas. Photo credit: Christmas Is Alive

 

I love Christmas trees: their needles' woodsy, fresh scent and the calming, magic they can bring to a room. This year for our tree  I decided I wanted to bring home a tree that was still alive, with the hopes of replanting it instead of chopping down a tree. After all, evergreen trees produce oxygen for us all year round since they retain their foliage. A small, potted Yvonne Port Orford Cedar called my name at our local hardware store: lemony-green with a sweet cedar aroma and good cold tolerance with the potential of growing up to 20 feet tall and 12 feet wide. I figured a unique cedar variety would also be a good choice because we could plant it amongst the rest of the cedars at our new property. Living trees work best when they are on the smaller side, up to 4 feet tall or so. This makes them great for smaller dwellings as well: tiny homes or studio apartments.

 

Since our older house already has some colder rooms, I didn't bother with acclimating our tree slowly to the indoors. If you keep your house rather warm, you'll want to give your living tree a chance to adjust to the change in temperature gradually (about 3-4 days), so that you don't shock your tree out of dormancy. This can be achieved by leaving your tree in an outdoor garden shed, up against the house on the porch or in the garage. You'll also only want to have your tree indoors for up to two weeks (10 days is ideal), again, so you don't bring your tree out of dormancy. Basically, if your tree awakens from dormancy, it will have a hard time readjusting to the cold of the outdoors when you're ready to plant your tree. Your tree also might drop many of its needles if it goes into shock.

 

I chose to place our potted tree in an antique wash basin, up away from Banjo, our one-year-old shepherd mix who would definitely be tempted to chew on the tree's branches and ornaments. Having our tree up in a wash basin meant I could water the tree without water dripping as well. I also covered the top of the tree's black pot with Christmas linens, save for the back, leaving some soil exposed for easy watering. I've seen living Christmas tree pots set up in apple bushel baskets or wrapped in festive fabric. Some living trees arrive with their rootball wrapped in burlap (as pictured above) instead of potted up. These trees can be kept in a galvanized tub full of water and weighted with stones.

 

I strung one string of mini green LED lights amongst the little tree's boughs and decorated the cedar with German paper star ornaments made by my Great Aunt, glass owls from my mom, and the corn husk angel I made last Christmas. Every other day I give the tree a pour of water from a mason jar I have sitting on a shelf nearby. I've read that keeping a spray bottle on hand for misting will keep living trees from losing their needles.

 

Anyway, on December 26th, I'll be busy taking these decorations down to prepare my little tree to return to the outdoors. Here, I will probably try to acclimate my tree to the outdoors by keeping it in our shed for a few days. Then, I'll be able to plant our tree over at the new property, where it will awaken in the spring, ready to keep growing.

 

Our litte tree, all set up.

Our tree is decorated with German paper stars, glass owls and mini green LED lights.

Our little tree at night.

our homestead: ideas we have for our little home

We love this wood-paneled, open cabin aesthetic with lots of bright windows. Photo credit: Free Cabin Porn

After purchasing land on October 2nd this year (our 2nd wedding anniversary), my husband and I made a goal of nailing down our home plans by Christmas. Since then we have been researching all sorts of different architectural styles for our home:

 

1) Tumbleweed Tiny Houses- truly tiny homes which are sized between 65-884 square feet. Their website features House-to-Go plans for portable homes as well as baby cottages. We are friends with a couple who built their own Tumbleweed House-to-Go. Their tiny house is powered via a solar panel and they also have a composting toilet system, so they are almost off-the-grid. They are actually about to move from Washington to Louisiana and will be able to take their house with them. I plan to feature them on this blog later on as I love their house! It's really cosy and inspiring.

An apple orchard seems like a fitting place for a tiny House-to-Go. Photo credit: Tiny House Listings

2) Cargotecture- houses made out of either used or new shipping containers. These houses are relatively affordable to build and are pretty much indestructible. Shipping containers can be cut to specifications or there are some companies catching on to the trend who have started selling containers with different sides missing (for stacking multiple containers together or side by side) or with pre-cut window and door holes. Shipping container homes can be used for minimalist tiny homes or can be stacked together to create multi-family condominiums. Many of the shipping container houses I've seen online have their industrial metal walls covered up with siding and drywall, so they are used like a prefabricated frame. I learned that many shipping containers come to the US and just sit here, stacked up in empty mountains, as we do not export goods as much as we import them (another reason to try to buy things made in this country). Thus, finding a use for these shipping containers is ecologically responsible.



A solar powered home made with shipping containers. Photo credit: Apartment Therapy

 

3) A Post or Timber Frame House- we also considered a post or timber framed home. Post and timber framed homes are typically made with a combination of industrial steel or plywood sheeting and wood and include a frame supported with strong poles (they are also called pole barns). Because of these materials and poles, the framed structure is very strong and does not require interior supporting walls. This makes post and timber frame homes very affordable as they take far less materials and labor to build.

A timber frame home. Photo credit: Town & Country Perma Bilt



I think my husband and I have finally figured out what we want to build using timber framing methods. Granted, we still need to have official building plans drawn up and we'll definitly tweak the specifics of our plans before we head to the county development office for approval. I will describe our plan with the following group of inspiration photos:

 

The floor plan we currently like, with a few adjustments. Photo credit: Home Plans

Above is the current floor plan we like. We've been studying many different floor plans and this one seems to make the most sense to us. We like the open kitchen and living room area. We always wanted an open living space, instead of a hidden away kitchen, as everyone wants to spend time in the kitchen anyway. We figure this open living space will grant us more options for furniture and entertaining layout as well. The square at the center of the living space is supposed to be a wood stove. I would prefer to move the wood stove to very left corner as it seems to be in an awkward spot in the center of the room. As far as the bathroom, one is enough for us now. We currently only use one bathroom in our house, even when company comes over. I don't need a private bathroom as I don't really mind sharing a bathroom with my guests. It's always been that way for us.

 

I measured the bedrooms out on the floor with measuring tape to try and visualize how big (or small) they are in reality. They are actually pretty spacious. Enough for a bed, dresser and mirror, which is the only furniture we have in our current bedroom anyway. If we purchase a low-profile bedframe with space for storage underneath and hang shelves, I'm sure we'll have ample storage space for our clothes and belongings. We are planning on adding a few extra feet to this floor plan to accomodate linen and storage closets, as well as a closet or small room for a stackable washer/dryer unit. We're also considering adding a small loft for a bedroom, depending on costs. Then we'd definitly have room. We like this plan because we figure we could easily build on to it later in life if we do need another room or two. For now, it's just the right size for us.

A 600 square foot 2-bedroom cabin with a lofted master and an open kitchen and living area. Photo credit:Houzz



Can this be my bedroom please? Inhabitat

A small children's room. Looks happy and cosy to me. Photo credit: Country Living

Having a smaller, energy-efficient home means we'll probably be warm and cosy in the winter months (we're currently freezing in the large older house we live in due to heating costs) and we'll be more connected to the outdoors in the summer. Speaking of which, we really want a large deck attached to the front of the house from the living area. I can imagine having friends and family over in the summer to lounge on our deck in the woods after a day of rowboating around the lake. Covering and screening in the deck might also make it more Pacific Northwest friendly while adding to our home space in a way, like an outdoor room.

I adore this view. This is exactly what I want to view from my living area. Photo credit: Tiny House Swoon

This looks like the life to me. Photo credit: Free Cabin Porn

 

A covered and screened-in deck would be more rainy PNW-friendly. Photo credit: Fresh Home

As far as indoor aesthetics, I really love the look and feel of wood paneled walls. The current house we live in has a 1970s addition with warm-brown slanted wood paneling. I adore the look and would like my new home to have this instead of drywall. Wood paneling is more natural to me and adds interest to a room. I also think it will fit our cabin aesthetic and our forested property.


Warm wood paneled walls and floor. Photo credit: Longest Acres

A wood paneled, small home. Photo credit: Tiny House Swoon

Darker stained wood paneling in a small bedroom. Photo credit: Moon to Moon

Anyway, these are probably enough details for now. We are very glad that we have agreed on a general plan for our home. I'll be sure to post more as our journey progresses.

our homestead: set the trail

Morning coffee on Fish Lake near Leavenworth, WA. Photo credit: Rachel Nickel

 



There are a lot of exciting things happening in my life right now. One of the big ones: as mentioned a few blog posts ago, my husband and I made the big decision (and risk) to jump on affordable recession prices and buy 2.17 acres of woods near a small, bass-fishing lake about 20 minutes north of the Swan Slough. We've been busy researching house plans, sustainable building materials and systems and all of the legwork we're going to need to accomplish in order to start construction. Our current plan is to build an energy-efficient 500-800 square foot home with a cabin-aesthetic. We really only need one bathroom and two bedrooms and an open living and dining area. I'd settle for a lofted bedroom for one of the those rooms (yes, please!). Though the house we currently live in (which we do not own) is somewhat large...some might even consider it small...we barely use any of the space, save for the main lofted living area we lovingly refer to as the 70s room (wood paneling and brown shag). The funny thing is that the 70s room, our favorite room in the house, is similar in proportion to many of the smaller house plans we've been considering at 12x24 feet. We plan to build something around 20x30 or more with lots of windows, a well thought out floor plan, and a large deck for outdoor entertaining in the summer. I could totally live happily in this amount of space.  By keeping our home small and energy-efficient, we hope to enjoy many benefits:

 

1. Building small with sustainable materials will keep our ecological footprint down. We will also be able to preserve the majority of the big, beautiful cedars on our property for this reason.

 

2. We will live without a looming mortgage by choosing to forgo a larger house, freeing up our income for continuing education, family trips and experiences.

 

3. We will have cheaper utility bills especially if we can use alternative methods like solar panels, which actually work very well in the Pacific Northwest. No more big, cold, expensive house!

 

4. We will have to have less clutter and things as everything we own will need to earn its keep. Quality over quantity.

 

5.We should have quicker cleanup and easier maintenance. (This appeals to my hidden German neat freak)

 

I've always been drawn to smaller homes as I've found them to be more practical and cosier. In larger homes, people can shy away in their rooms and might choose yelling as their main form of communication rather than speak to each other face to face. I visited my family in Europe and they seemed to get along quite well in smaller abodes. It's really how the rest of the world lives. I know there will definitely be challenges in living in a smaller home, but the benefits will outweigh these challenges, especially since my husband and I will be living within our value system. It's not for everyone, but it's our dream.

 

Anyway, my husband and I are beyond fortunate to have friends with various skill sets: a plumber, a framer, an electrician, as well as friends who already use alternative methods such as solar panels, generators and composting toilets within the operation of their homes. We are even friends with a couple who built their own tiny house. We plan to hire friends to help us as much as possible. I love when I can support those I care about.

 

This little house in the woods could be ours. Image via Apartment Therapy.

 

 

Anyway, I'll write more about our dreams on a different day. I wanted to write about some changes I've decided to make to my blog to accommodate my evolving life and interests. I have thoroughly enjoyed writing about my baby backyard homestead on the Swan Slough, and I plan to continue writing about my gardening and livestock rearing interests, especially since we'll be building our own little as-far-off-the-grid-as-we-can-manage home and starting a woodland garden in the near future, which is totally homestead. However, I want to include other topics which I find fascinating or inspiring. For instance, from the time that I started attending farmers markets with my mom as a child, I've always admired self-starters and entrepreneurs. I dream of one day running my own business, but until that day comes, I would love to start featuring more posts about those with the bootstrap-business ethic. Those who take chances and start their own little businesses. I also want to feature more young couples like my husband and I who are forgoing the large-house American dream and building small...tiny...houses. These are my budding interests. Along with these features, I want to write straightforward DIY tutorials for unique skills like homebrewing mead, catching, prepping and cooking mountain trout on a camping trip, or canning tomatoes.

 

Since my blog will be expanding its focus and we will be moving from the Swan Slough within a year or so, I think it's time I change my blog's name. I tried to think of a name that would incorporate my themes of cultivating a little homestead of our own, supporting those who go against the grain and start their own dream businesses or decide to build their own tiny homes, and a championing of the DIY spirit. I found it. This blog will now become Set the Trail.