When you said that you didn't want chickens. But Peter did. It sounded like my hubby and I. He didn't want chickens. But I always did. We have lived in our 1916 old farmhouse for almost 32 years now. And in 2021 during the lockdowns. I decided I was going to get chickens. Finally. So my neighbor had a friend that had a bunch of laying hens. And she had a lot that were just getting ready to lay. So my neighbor and my hubby and I and my neighbors 3 kids, went to get chickens for me and for her. We ended up getting 8. She got 12. And we had the coop already for them. I call my hens, the "spice chicks". I named them after spices. I have parsley, cinnamon, salt, pepper, sage, rosemary, cayenne and little nutmeg. I wasn't sure how I was going to like chickens. But we still have all our chicks. And they have been so fun and are still great layers. And they even won over my hubby! It only takes me maybe 5 minutes a day to tend to them. And they are so funny to watch. They each have their own personality. So glad we finally did get them.
"Spice chicks" - what a truly marvelous idea!! My mom names kitten litters with a theme, but this is quite a bit more names to squeeze in. I absolutely love it! And how wonderful that they're all still alive and entertaining you and your husband. I expect at some point this may be our story too; I'm just not there yet!
That was a great Q&A. Thank you. When we bought our 6 1/2 acres, we had so many "plans". Turns out, taking one project at a time was way better than the two dozen plans we thought we could execute within the first year. LOL
LOL. I fear I'm going to have to learn that lesson the hard way, even though the project manager side of my brain *knows* that one project at a time is best! I had no idea you were on that many acres. Can I ask how you're using those acres? Are you doing the homestead thing?
I still really like this guy. ;) Ahhh, that feels so long ago, and yet it was just 5 years. And you're still the best contest roomie in the history of roomies. ;)
Thanks for the Q&A! Although I didn't have any specific questions, it did a good job of covering what I'd occasionally pondered. Ah, the grey days are just starting. I used to joke that you could count the number of sunny days between Thanksgiving and Easter on one hand. To stave off serious cabin fever, the trick is to get outside no matter what - cross country or downhill ski, snow shoe, hike, go sledding, go to a park, build snowmen....etc. and then snuggle up to your wood stove. So you lived just outside of Rochester! I grew up in Scottsville, and as a young adult lived in Henrietta. No wonder you've been to the Genesee Country Museum! When I was in that area, I knew all kinds of people who were interested in making a life out in the country, and who loved the history of the area. I can't imagine there wouldn't still be folks there who are into that lifestyle. Your instincts are good - volunteering is a great way to meet people. Although it takes a while to get to know people in that neck of the woods, once you do they're not fickle. I still keep in touch with a couple I met there.
According to historical weather reports, NY has grey days 50% of the time. It's definitely a change! I walk most mornings, ideally for just over an hour, so that helps, but it's not the same as actual sunshine. And we're told there's been hardly any snow for the last couple of years, so we're not sure how many snow-related activities we'll be doing this winter. Yes, we lived outside Rochester for about 3 months, and went to Genesee at least twice - once for an all-day historic cooking class, and once for their Christmas Eve tour. We've also taken a couple of Zoom classes with them during the pandemic. We looked at Henrietta as a relocation possibility, but proximity to Rochester meant that prices were still a bit out of our range. I am sure we'll find history and country life folks out here; the guy who owns the farmstand down the road is definitely a history buff and told me all about the railroad that was here until 1968. Fascinating stuff!
A very enjoyable video 😊 I feel sure that no matter what you eventually decide to do, you will e successful. Totally agree with you on canning! There's nothing like having a pressure cooker explode, especially if you're canning spaghetti! Takes hours to clean that up, a d a ladder to clean it off the ceiling. I understand that the newer pressure cookers are much better 😊 The event I was referring to happened 60 years ago 😊 I just turned 80 in July so guess I qualify as an old lady now 😊 Take care and have.a good week ❤
So glad you enjoyed the video, Phyllis! Goodness, your story about an exploding canner and spaghetti on the ceiling drew a very clear mental picture for me. No wonder it stuck in your memory all these years! I am given to understand that the newer generations of pressure canners are less prone to doing that, though we were warned about that in the canning class we took a couple of years ago. Congratulations on your birthday! I see 80 years of experience in that number. ;)
You also may have to consider salt use on the road if they use it on your road. Also make sure you can see up and down the road when you drive on to the road from your property as a 10 foot hedge will be to high to see over.
We've asked the neighbors about the salt thing, and they've all just said that stuff grows back. Also, the winters have been really mild here the last 2 years, so a lot less salt on the road than normal. Actually, a 10-foot high hedge would be GREAT for noise protection and privacy. The road runs straight past our house, so if we did have a hedge, it would be set back from the road and there'd be no visibility problems once you pulled to the edge of the driveway.
Hello from Iowa! I just found your channel recently, and I'm really enjoying it. A stewardship idea that might fit in nicely with your love of flowers might be to establish an apiary for honey bees. It also works well with your farm's name.
Hello! My parents currently live in Iowa (NE corner, about an hour west of Decorah). I'm delighted you've come along for our renovation journey. :) Peter has wanted to get into beekeeping for a number of years, and I think once we're moved in and settled in for a year or two, we will pick up that thread. He wants to keep bees; I would like the honey and wax that they make. So yes, we'll definitely be planning for bees when we design the food forest and garden beds! Gotta look after our pollinators. :D
Thank you for the q&a. As far as taking some classes but not having the budget for it. Try your local extension office. They offer lots of classes in all kinds of fields and they’re either free or like 10$. Hopefully your area will offer a good variety. It is also another great way to connect with like minded people in your area. We also have a local community garden that is great to visit.
I'm glad you enjoyed the Q&A, A Piece Maker! The extension offices in our county are kind of weird; since we're the next county over from Ithaca - home to Cornell University and the Cornell-based extension service - pretty much everything extension office just funnels to Ithaca. Which isn't bad, per se - it just means a 40 minute drive. Then again, the pottery place and Hammerstone woodworking are also in Ithaca ...
@ yeah that’s sad because it leaves you and your locals essentially without an extension office. Hopefully, the library will be a good source of both education and fellowship. Maybe they have a book club there.
@@apiecemaker1163 You're right in that it kinda feels like we're extension-less here. I am hopeful the library will turn into something! And we can drive to Ithaca; it just takes a bit more planning and time. :D
What type of sewing are you interested in? I think you will find many quilters in your area that would help you get started making quilts. Quilts really keep you warm in the winter. Love your channel.
That's a great question. I'm mostly interested in sewing shirts and dresses and skirts for myself - something I've never done, I might add. Curtains, sheets, and towels are secondary on the list as well. I tend not to like a lot of modern women's clothing and like the idea of learning to make my own.
I'm glad you enjoyed the video, and thank you for the compliment about TH-cam. I'm at the place in the learning curve where I usually feel like I know what I'm doing but am not always certain that's true. :P So glad you're looking forward to future endeavors!
Enjoyed your Q&A.I love hearing the who, what, when, why of every story I have spent my life learning & diving into projects. Half the adventure is dreaming and planning it up.
I lived in Baltimore for many years. Moved to central Florida and love living here. You could also do a mixed hedge of 3 or more pants of various sizes and colors, like honeysuckle, lilac, forsythia, boxwood, juniper, witch hazel, boxwood, cypress, juniper, so many combinations to choose from.
How funny that you lived in Baltimore before relocating to Florida! The mixed hedge idea is a good one, and honestly if we put in a hedge, it won't be just one type of plant. ;) I haven't ever grown honeysuckle but I have seen it on other people's property - and the smell is divine! As is lilac.
Oh, of course! You were right there on my list of "definitely answer this!" Peter would love the answer to be yes; we'll see how it goes. :P Do you have chickens, by the way? Because my main concern is finding a sitter to take care of them when we can (eventually) afford to travel again.
Thank you for answering my questions, I enjoyed the q&a, I look forward to seeing your adventures in homesteading and crafting, I have tried many over the years, except soap making, i use an emulantte as soaps aren't good for me, it's funny during covid we were all using hand sanitizer and my hands peeled the Dr said please stop washing and saniizing your hands! It's better now but i got told off.❤
I'm so glad you liked it, and thanks for sending in questions! I can't believe the doctor told you off for too much sanitizing! Then again, the whole point of having skin is to protect what's inside, and your skin can't do that if it's peeling ... :)
I'm so glad you liked it, Gadge! When I told Peter that folks had asked for our story of how we met, he said, "That's a great story." About the grey days: my new doc suggested Vitamin C supplements, which I've yet to pursue. And I've also looked into getting a full-spectrum light. Curious if you've tried either?
@@HoneyAppleFarm I tried vit C but it makes me nauseous. I have heard about that light. My name is Chelsa and Gadge is my grandson. I can't figure out how to get his name off and mine on. LOL
@@gadgethompson3896 Chelsea, what a beautiful name! It sounds like you might be logged into your grandson's Google account, and since Google owns TH-cam, you're probably seeing his account when you're on TH-cam as well. :P I hadn't heard about vit C making someone nauseous. I am seriously thinking about one of those lights, though. I am in such a better mood when we have sunlight here!
You mentioned exploring what kind of fruit trees to plant and in your list you mentioned Avocados! On that it's a absolutely not! You are too far North for to cold in winter and you get snow. This is absolutely death for a Avocado tree. I'm from the Primary Avocado growing region in Southern California and had one in my backyard. So I know what they want temperature wise. Good luck with your choices, it will be fun seeing what you choose.
In our current climate, you're absolutely correct. However, there are fig trees that are cold-hard down to zone 5 (which is us!) and with the climate predictions we researched before moving, we may be able to grow them outside eventually. For now, if we grow them, they'd need to be either in a pot (which doesn't thrill me) or inside a greenhouse or hoop house (but it would have to be tall enough to accommodate the 15-20 foot tall trees!) But avocados are soooooooo tasty; it's hard to discount growing them for ourselves.
About edge of property by road since you said county has right of way go ask the county office if they have a list of acceptable plantings that you can plant
Check with the county but I believe anything planted on the right of way can be cut down by the county and not replaced if they do any work in that area.
@@kmarch6630 That is correct. That's why they want something that can be easily removed if they have to do work there. But that doesn't mean we can't plant there; only that we have to be willing for it to be cut down or driven over if work is needed.
In just the last couple of days I stumbled upon a gal (a kid! haha, is my granny showing?) named Alex Fasulo who has purchased a bit of farmland in upstate NY (nearly to Vermont). She bought a farmstand and is mostly selling things she didn't grow. I was fascinated that she said New Yorkers could easily have a farm stand/business. I figured New York had rules against such things. Who knew? I'd like to know more about that. I'm sure that at least some of it is dependent on town and county ordinances. Also, she got maps of her farm going back at least to 1948 from a local USDA representative. That is also something I'd like to look into. Soap is fun to make and I recently found my collection of grass-fed tallow in my freezer so it's on my after Christmas list. Sewing is also.... I have dreams though not lots of time. Today I am actually letting my 4 grandsons watch "Cat in the hat comes back" while I type this. OK that is making me feel guilty so I need to move on. This was a very interesting Q&A and I definitely am interested in next steps. Oh, and I don't have pets currently because of the neighbors and the roads. I do have chickens here at home and a farm full of livestock though :) I've had pets killed on the road, and had neighbors not thrilled with wandering pets. I pet their animals and call it good, haha.
I just Googled Alex Fasulo and found the video where she talks about her farmstand. I am so going to watch that after work today!! Thank you for the recommendation. :) There are TONS of farmstands around here, so the licensing requirements must be reasonable. I love how you said you recently found your tallow in your freezer; it sounds like maybe you have an awful lot of stuff in your freezer. ;) I really liked making soap (though not with tallow!) and want to get back to it. It's one of those projects that you can do a lot at one time and then not do again for several months, which appeals to me. I'm an all in or all out kind of person; doing things repeatedly in smaller increments is not my forte. I loved the Cat in the Hat when I was a kid (before the movies - is that showing my age??) so I don't think that's a bad way at all to entertain your grandkids. ;)
@@kmarch6630 If we ever get a dog in future, that's what we'll do. I'm not a dog person and have no desire for one (cats are my thing), but Peter may decide at some point that he really wants a dog. Never say never, right? :)
how funny, I was just thinking about you. I was looking at a fruit crusher on Marketplace and somehow was thinking about your poor lonely press. haha, like I have nothing to think about! Funny that you were posting at the same moment. (crusher is inexpensive but 90 miles from you in PA, so likely not an option). Re: food forest - I started elderberry with cuttings and it took awhile but it worked. You could look around for it around you. I love that you have garlic near you; excellent option. I am actually putting in a new bed for garlic. My timing is lousy and I may end up putting some in an established bed.
That is too funny, Brenda! The Universe works in mysterious ways. As much as I would like the crusher, we need to get moved into this house first with all the stuff we currently have. :P It's so hard, though, when there's so much good stuff to be had! I love that you are growing your own garlic. I wish we had the time to plant a bed this year; I planted my first garlic 2 years ago in Tulsa and again last year and LOVED having our own. It grows all by itself once established and is super delicious. But not having it is just one more incentive to visit the garlic farm down the street. They make their own garlic scape pesto, which I had never heard of, have yet to taste, and sounds divine!!
This is a great question, Susie. Honestly, it's probably going to be a bit of both. I love the look of the older antiques and suspect we'll be doing a fair amount of thrift / garage sale / antique store explorations in a couple of years. But the furniture we own now is very modern (Ikea), so we'll probably start out on that side and move more classical as we can.
How wonderful to hear that your friend is doing well with freeze-dried meals! I have a bunch of questions; do you think your friend would mind if I reached out to her? Does she have a website I could perhaps review? (As you can tell, this is a hot topic in my brain at the moment!)
Yes, I've looked into that option. The layaway period is only for a year, which is what has kept us from doing it so far - our finances aren't such that we can be sure we'd complete the purchase in 12 months! I'm so glad you bought one, though! Tell me all about it! What do you freeze dry? What size did you get?
@@HoneyAppleFarm they have a Black Friday sale right now, $2495 for a medium, which is the size we have. It has been upgraded so they now have 5 trays instead of 4.
@@katherinehepperle4630 Thank you for the Black Friday tip! Do you freeze-dry mostly garden harvest/raw ingredients, or do you do meals as well? I've read and watched some videos about freeze-drying garden produce etc. but would love to get into whole meals as well.
@@HoneyAppleFarmright now I have been freeze drying bulk garlic, grated ginger and fresh herbs from the garden. I didn't receive my freeze dryer when all the produce was coming in from the garden so all of that preservation will wait until next year. Given that we are a few days from Thanksgiving I am thinking I would like to try freeze drying some of the leftovers. I haven't done any meals yet, but it is on my list :)
@@katherinehepperle4630 That is so cool! All of those are on my wish list. Funny story - the first year I grew garlic, I froze a bunch and Peter was all "I don't know if we'll go through all that in a year." Three months later, we were all out of frozen, pre-chopped garlic. :P If you freeze-dry any Thanksgiving leftovers, let me know how it goes!
Absolutely! I used several of her recipes before her book came out, though I prefer the book to staring at my tiny phone screen. :P What's your favorite recipe?
Portland is expensive. We moved from there to southern Alabama and bought our 1887 farmhouse and 2.25 acres for a third of what it would have cost us there.
Quite a change from the PNW to southern Alabama! But I totally get it; prices in the Portland area are quite high! If I may ask, are you homesteading on your property?
@@HoneyAppleFarm Yes, there is a huge difference between PNW and Alabama, the cost of living is so much better and the warmth of the people is unmatched. We actually have a relationship with all of the neighbors here where in PDX I couldn't have told you anyone's name. We are just beginning our homesteading journey. We don't have any animals, though I would like to have laying hens at some point. We have planted fruit trees, and there were some already established. I have been slowly growing the vegetable and flower garden, expanding bit by bit each year. The growing season is so much longer than in the PNW. I have been preserving the harvest through canning, freeze drying and freezing. I have one neighbor in particular who has been a great resource for helping me get used to how growing works down here.
@@katherinehepperle4630 What a beautiful lifestyle you are building in Alabama! I started gardening in Tulsa and was amazed at how long the growing season is there too - early spring comes in Feb or March and you can keep growing through the end of October/early November (with frost protection). I have a huge sweet tooth, so fruit trees are at the top of my "want" list!
I have not! I am familiar with the Tudor family who ruled England (in fact, I'm just reading a book about Richard III now), but I suspect that's not the historical context you meant. :P
@@MsAgatha1Eta I've been Googling Tasha Tudor and wow! I can't believe I hadn't heard of her before. I love her drawing style; I would love to be able to draw even half as well someday!
I think her book just got on Amazon if that is what you were hoping for. I actually pulled my starter out of the fridge this morning for winter baking. I need to babysit it a bit to get it active again :)
Lisa Bass is the author's name. She's on TH-cam: th-cam.com/users/farmhouseonboone and her website is farmhouseonboone.com. She has TONS of recipes on her site! The book is called Daily Sourdough, and you can buy it from the publisher's website here: homesteadliving.com/daily-sourdough/ or, as Brenda said, it just released on Amazon here: www.amazon.com/Daily-Sourdough-Healthy-Recipes-Every/dp/1963008006.
@ you are an absolute wonderful lady replying to absolutely every person who watches your video and comments your kind heart resonates through everything you do✨❤️✨🙏
When you said that you didn't want chickens. But Peter did. It sounded like my hubby and I. He didn't want chickens. But I always did. We have lived in our 1916 old farmhouse for almost 32 years now. And in 2021 during the lockdowns. I decided I was going to get chickens. Finally. So my neighbor had a friend that had a bunch of laying hens. And she had a lot that were just getting ready to lay. So my neighbor and my hubby and I and my neighbors 3 kids, went to get chickens for me and for her. We ended up getting 8. She got 12. And we had the coop already for them. I call my hens, the "spice chicks". I named them after spices. I have parsley, cinnamon, salt, pepper, sage, rosemary, cayenne and little nutmeg. I wasn't sure how I was going to like chickens. But we still have all our chicks. And they have been so fun and are still great layers. And they even won over my hubby! It only takes me maybe 5 minutes a day to tend to them. And they are so funny to watch. They each have their own personality. So glad we finally did get them.
"Spice chicks" - what a truly marvelous idea!! My mom names kitten litters with a theme, but this is quite a bit more names to squeeze in. I absolutely love it! And how wonderful that they're all still alive and entertaining you and your husband. I expect at some point this may be our story too; I'm just not there yet!
That was a great Q&A. Thank you. When we bought our 6 1/2 acres, we had so many "plans". Turns out, taking one project at a time was way better than the two dozen plans we thought we could execute within the first year. LOL
LOL. I fear I'm going to have to learn that lesson the hard way, even though the project manager side of my brain *knows* that one project at a time is best! I had no idea you were on that many acres. Can I ask how you're using those acres? Are you doing the homestead thing?
We were roomies and I remember how you admitted to me, "I really like this guy!”
I still really like this guy. ;) Ahhh, that feels so long ago, and yet it was just 5 years. And you're still the best contest roomie in the history of roomies. ;)
Thanks for the Q&A! Although I didn't have any specific questions, it did a good job of covering what I'd occasionally pondered. Ah, the grey days are just starting. I used to joke that you could count the number of sunny days between Thanksgiving and Easter on one hand. To stave off serious cabin fever, the trick is to get outside no matter what - cross country or downhill ski, snow shoe, hike, go sledding, go to a park, build snowmen....etc. and then snuggle up to your wood stove. So you lived just outside of Rochester! I grew up in Scottsville, and as a young adult lived in Henrietta. No wonder you've been to the Genesee Country Museum! When I was in that area, I knew all kinds of people who were interested in making a life out in the country, and who loved the history of the area. I can't imagine there wouldn't still be folks there who are into that lifestyle. Your instincts are good - volunteering is a great way to meet people. Although it takes a while to get to know people in that neck of the woods, once you do they're not fickle. I still keep in touch with a couple I met there.
According to historical weather reports, NY has grey days 50% of the time. It's definitely a change! I walk most mornings, ideally for just over an hour, so that helps, but it's not the same as actual sunshine. And we're told there's been hardly any snow for the last couple of years, so we're not sure how many snow-related activities we'll be doing this winter.
Yes, we lived outside Rochester for about 3 months, and went to Genesee at least twice - once for an all-day historic cooking class, and once for their Christmas Eve tour. We've also taken a couple of Zoom classes with them during the pandemic.
We looked at Henrietta as a relocation possibility, but proximity to Rochester meant that prices were still a bit out of our range.
I am sure we'll find history and country life folks out here; the guy who owns the farmstand down the road is definitely a history buff and told me all about the railroad that was here until 1968. Fascinating stuff!
A very enjoyable video 😊 I feel sure that no matter what you eventually decide to do, you will e successful.
Totally agree with you on canning! There's nothing like having a pressure cooker explode, especially if you're canning spaghetti! Takes hours to clean that up, a d a ladder to clean it off the ceiling. I understand that the newer pressure cookers are much better 😊 The event I was referring to happened 60 years ago 😊 I just turned 80 in July so guess I qualify as an old lady now 😊
Take care and have.a good week ❤
So glad you enjoyed the video, Phyllis! Goodness, your story about an exploding canner and spaghetti on the ceiling drew a very clear mental picture for me. No wonder it stuck in your memory all these years!
I am given to understand that the newer generations of pressure canners are less prone to doing that, though we were warned about that in the canning class we took a couple of years ago.
Congratulations on your birthday! I see 80 years of experience in that number. ;)
You also may have to consider salt use on the road if they use it on your road. Also make sure you can see up and down the road when you drive on to the road from your property as a 10 foot hedge will be to high to see over.
We've asked the neighbors about the salt thing, and they've all just said that stuff grows back. Also, the winters have been really mild here the last 2 years, so a lot less salt on the road than normal. Actually, a 10-foot high hedge would be GREAT for noise protection and privacy. The road runs straight past our house, so if we did have a hedge, it would be set back from the road and there'd be no visibility problems once you pulled to the edge of the driveway.
Love all the info on what I was wondering about. I appreciate your openness. I’m looking forward to all your endeavors. Great video!
I'm so glad you enjoyed the video. It was fun and not as awkward as I had thought talking to a camera might be. ;)
I really enjoyed the Q&A! It's nice to know a little bit more about you and Peter.
I'm so glad you enjoyed the Q&A! It was surprisingly fun to do. :D
Hello from Iowa! I just found your channel recently, and I'm really enjoying it. A stewardship idea that might fit in nicely with your love of flowers might be to establish an apiary for honey bees. It also works well with your farm's name.
Hello! My parents currently live in Iowa (NE corner, about an hour west of Decorah). I'm delighted you've come along for our renovation journey. :)
Peter has wanted to get into beekeeping for a number of years, and I think once we're moved in and settled in for a year or two, we will pick up that thread. He wants to keep bees; I would like the honey and wax that they make. So yes, we'll definitely be planning for bees when we design the food forest and garden beds! Gotta look after our pollinators. :D
Thank you for the q&a. As far as taking some classes but not having the budget for it. Try your local extension office. They offer lots of classes in all kinds of fields and they’re either free or like 10$. Hopefully your area will offer a good variety. It is also another great way to connect with like minded people in your area. We also have a local community garden that is great to visit.
I'm glad you enjoyed the Q&A, A Piece Maker! The extension offices in our county are kind of weird; since we're the next county over from Ithaca - home to Cornell University and the Cornell-based extension service - pretty much everything extension office just funnels to Ithaca. Which isn't bad, per se - it just means a 40 minute drive. Then again, the pottery place and Hammerstone woodworking are also in Ithaca ...
@ yeah that’s sad because it leaves you and your locals essentially without an extension office. Hopefully, the library will be a good source of both education and fellowship. Maybe they have a book club there.
@@apiecemaker1163 You're right in that it kinda feels like we're extension-less here. I am hopeful the library will turn into something! And we can drive to Ithaca; it just takes a bit more planning and time. :D
What type of sewing are you interested in? I think you will find many quilters in your area that would help you get started making quilts. Quilts really keep you warm in the winter. Love your channel.
That's a great question. I'm mostly interested in sewing shirts and dresses and skirts for myself - something I've never done, I might add. Curtains, sheets, and towels are secondary on the list as well. I tend not to like a lot of modern women's clothing and like the idea of learning to make my own.
Love your happy journey so far,you and Peter have so much to look forward too!
I'm glad you enjoyed the video, Jamye! We have a lot of plans for this house. :D
Great video, you are doing a great job with TH-cam. I'll definitely be sticking around for your future endeavours, looking forward to it 😊
I'm glad you enjoyed the video, and thank you for the compliment about TH-cam. I'm at the place in the learning curve where I usually feel like I know what I'm doing but am not always certain that's true. :P So glad you're looking forward to future endeavors!
Oh how I loved hearing everything, but especially how you and Peter met🤗
I'm so glad you enjoyed the Q&A! It's been a while since I've told the meeting Peter story, and it was such fun to record it for you all.
Enjoyed your Q&A.I love hearing the who, what, when, why of every story I have spent my life learning & diving into projects. Half the adventure is dreaming and planning it up.
I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I agree with you: half the fun is dreaming and planning. :)
Best wishes on all your future plans, I hope they all work out to your benefit
Thank you, Phil! That is so kind of you.
Thank you for sharing!
I'm so glad you enjoyed it, Deanna!
I lived in Baltimore for many years. Moved to central Florida and love living here.
You could also do a mixed hedge of 3 or more pants of various sizes and colors, like honeysuckle, lilac, forsythia, boxwood, juniper, witch hazel, boxwood, cypress, juniper, so many combinations to choose from.
How funny that you lived in Baltimore before relocating to Florida! The mixed hedge idea is a good one, and honestly if we put in a hedge, it won't be just one type of plant. ;) I haven't ever grown honeysuckle but I have seen it on other people's property - and the smell is divine! As is lilac.
Loved this thank you so much 😊
I'm so glad you enjoyed it! And thank you for your excellent questions. :D
Thanks for remembering my Chicken question 😊
Oh, of course! You were right there on my list of "definitely answer this!" Peter would love the answer to be yes; we'll see how it goes. :P Do you have chickens, by the way? Because my main concern is finding a sitter to take care of them when we can (eventually) afford to travel again.
Enjoy your vlogs.
I'm so glad, Nana! I appreciate sharing the journey with you!
Thank you for answering my questions, I enjoyed the q&a, I look forward to seeing your adventures in homesteading and crafting, I have tried many over the years, except soap making, i use an emulantte as soaps aren't good for me, it's funny during covid we were all using hand sanitizer and my hands peeled the Dr said please stop washing and saniizing your hands! It's better now but i got told off.❤
I'm so glad you liked it, and thanks for sending in questions! I can't believe the doctor told you off for too much sanitizing! Then again, the whole point of having skin is to protect what's inside, and your skin can't do that if it's peeling ... :)
I really enjoyed your Q and A! Great story on meeting Peter. I hate Gray days also. Have not seen the sun in 3 dam days.......LOL
I'm so glad you liked it, Gadge! When I told Peter that folks had asked for our story of how we met, he said, "That's a great story."
About the grey days: my new doc suggested Vitamin C supplements, which I've yet to pursue. And I've also looked into getting a full-spectrum light. Curious if you've tried either?
@@HoneyAppleFarm I tried vit C but it makes me nauseous. I have heard about that light. My name is Chelsa and Gadge is my grandson. I can't figure out how to get his name off and mine on. LOL
@@gadgethompson3896 Chelsea, what a beautiful name! It sounds like you might be logged into your grandson's Google account, and since Google owns TH-cam, you're probably seeing his account when you're on TH-cam as well. :P
I hadn't heard about vit C making someone nauseous. I am seriously thinking about one of those lights, though. I am in such a better mood when we have sunlight here!
You mentioned exploring what kind of fruit trees to plant and in your list you mentioned Avocados! On that it's a absolutely not! You are too far North for to cold in winter and you get snow. This is absolutely death for a Avocado tree. I'm from the Primary Avocado growing region in Southern California and had one in my backyard. So I know what they want temperature wise. Good luck with your choices, it will be fun seeing what you choose.
In our current climate, you're absolutely correct. However, there are fig trees that are cold-hard down to zone 5 (which is us!) and with the climate predictions we researched before moving, we may be able to grow them outside eventually. For now, if we grow them, they'd need to be either in a pot (which doesn't thrill me) or inside a greenhouse or hoop house (but it would have to be tall enough to accommodate the 15-20 foot tall trees!) But avocados are soooooooo tasty; it's hard to discount growing them for ourselves.
About edge of property by road since you said county has right of way go ask the county office if they have a list of acceptable plantings that you can plant
That's not a bad idea, Steven. Thank you! (I hope it's a nice long list!)
Check with the county but I believe anything planted on the right of way can be cut down by the county and not replaced if they do any work in that area.
@@kmarch6630 That is correct. That's why they want something that can be easily removed if they have to do work there. But that doesn't mean we can't plant there; only that we have to be willing for it to be cut down or driven over if work is needed.
In just the last couple of days I stumbled upon a gal (a kid! haha, is my granny showing?) named Alex Fasulo who has purchased a bit of farmland in upstate NY (nearly to Vermont). She bought a farmstand and is mostly selling things she didn't grow. I was fascinated that she said New Yorkers could easily have a farm stand/business. I figured New York had rules against such things. Who knew? I'd like to know more about that. I'm sure that at least some of it is dependent on town and county ordinances. Also, she got maps of her farm going back at least to 1948 from a local USDA representative. That is also something I'd like to look into. Soap is fun to make and I recently found my collection of grass-fed tallow in my freezer so it's on my after Christmas list. Sewing is also.... I have dreams though not lots of time. Today I am actually letting my 4 grandsons watch "Cat in the hat comes back" while I type this. OK that is making me feel guilty so I need to move on. This was a very interesting Q&A and I definitely am interested in next steps. Oh, and I don't have pets currently because of the neighbors and the roads. I do have chickens here at home and a farm full of livestock though :) I've had pets killed on the road, and had neighbors not thrilled with wandering pets. I pet their animals and call it good, haha.
I just Googled Alex Fasulo and found the video where she talks about her farmstand. I am so going to watch that after work today!! Thank you for the recommendation. :) There are TONS of farmstands around here, so the licensing requirements must be reasonable.
I love how you said you recently found your tallow in your freezer; it sounds like maybe you have an awful lot of stuff in your freezer. ;) I really liked making soap (though not with tallow!) and want to get back to it. It's one of those projects that you can do a lot at one time and then not do again for several months, which appeals to me. I'm an all in or all out kind of person; doing things repeatedly in smaller increments is not my forte.
I loved the Cat in the Hat when I was a kid (before the movies - is that showing my age??) so I don't think that's a bad way at all to entertain your grandkids. ;)
You could fence in part of your yard like we did and bring your pup in at night. That's what we do.
@@kmarch6630 If we ever get a dog in future, that's what we'll do. I'm not a dog person and have no desire for one (cats are my thing), but Peter may decide at some point that he really wants a dog. Never say never, right? :)
how funny, I was just thinking about you. I was looking at a fruit crusher on Marketplace and somehow was thinking about your poor lonely press. haha, like I have nothing to think about! Funny that you were posting at the same moment. (crusher is inexpensive but 90 miles from you in PA, so likely not an option). Re: food forest - I started elderberry with cuttings and it took awhile but it worked. You could look around for it around you. I love that you have garlic near you; excellent option. I am actually putting in a new bed for garlic. My timing is lousy and I may end up putting some in an established bed.
That is too funny, Brenda! The Universe works in mysterious ways. As much as I would like the crusher, we need to get moved into this house first with all the stuff we currently have. :P It's so hard, though, when there's so much good stuff to be had!
I love that you are growing your own garlic. I wish we had the time to plant a bed this year; I planted my first garlic 2 years ago in Tulsa and again last year and LOVED having our own. It grows all by itself once established and is super delicious. But not having it is just one more incentive to visit the garlic farm down the street. They make their own garlic scape pesto, which I had never heard of, have yet to taste, and sounds divine!!
Will you be putting in modern furniture or do you like antiques?
This is a great question, Susie. Honestly, it's probably going to be a bit of both. I love the look of the older antiques and suspect we'll be doing a fair amount of thrift / garage sale / antique store explorations in a couple of years. But the furniture we own now is very modern (Ikea), so we'll probably start out on that side and move more classical as we can.
August 4 is my wedding anniversary. We hit 40 years this past August.
Oh how lovely! Happy 40th! I hope you did something fantastic to celebrate. :D
@ 40 years…….we only go out for dinner now days. The fun stuff like cruises etc were for our younger years. lol
@@alisonk.9314 I'm glad you did something to celebrate!
A friend of mine has a freeze dried package meals she sells. She does well.
How wonderful to hear that your friend is doing well with freeze-dried meals! I have a bunch of questions; do you think your friend would mind if I reached out to her? Does she have a website I could perhaps review? (As you can tell, this is a hot topic in my brain at the moment!)
Harvest Right has a layaway option for their freeze dryers. That's how we were able to purchase ours
Yes, I've looked into that option. The layaway period is only for a year, which is what has kept us from doing it so far - our finances aren't such that we can be sure we'd complete the purchase in 12 months! I'm so glad you bought one, though! Tell me all about it! What do you freeze dry? What size did you get?
@@HoneyAppleFarm they have a Black Friday sale right now, $2495 for a medium, which is the size we have. It has been upgraded so they now have 5 trays instead of 4.
@@katherinehepperle4630 Thank you for the Black Friday tip! Do you freeze-dry mostly garden harvest/raw ingredients, or do you do meals as well? I've read and watched some videos about freeze-drying garden produce etc. but would love to get into whole meals as well.
@@HoneyAppleFarmright now I have been freeze drying bulk garlic, grated ginger and fresh herbs from the garden. I didn't receive my freeze dryer when all the produce was coming in from the garden so all of that preservation will wait until next year. Given that we are a few days from Thanksgiving I am thinking I would like to try freeze drying some of the leftovers. I haven't done any meals yet, but it is on my list :)
@@katherinehepperle4630 That is so cool! All of those are on my wish list. Funny story - the first year I grew garlic, I froze a bunch and Peter was all "I don't know if we'll go through all that in a year." Three months later, we were all out of frozen, pre-chopped garlic. :P If you freeze-dry any Thanksgiving leftovers, let me know how it goes!
Farmhouse on Boone is a great resource for sourdough.
Absolutely! I used several of her recipes before her book came out, though I prefer the book to staring at my tiny phone screen. :P What's your favorite recipe?
@ - I love her sandwich bread.
@@quiltr141 Oooh, I haven't tried that one yet.
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Thanks, Shelbie!
Now I'm puzzled! You said your not at all interested in canning, then why accept all the canning jars🥺
Because you can use the jars for lots of other things, including storing dehydrated and freeze-dried foods. :)
Portland is expensive. We moved from there to southern Alabama and bought our 1887 farmhouse and 2.25 acres for a third of what it would have cost us there.
Quite a change from the PNW to southern Alabama! But I totally get it; prices in the Portland area are quite high! If I may ask, are you homesteading on your property?
@@HoneyAppleFarm Yes, there is a huge difference between PNW and Alabama, the cost of living is so much better and the warmth of the people is unmatched. We actually have a relationship with all of the neighbors here where in PDX I couldn't have told you anyone's name. We are just beginning our homesteading journey. We don't have any animals, though I would like to have laying hens at some point. We have planted fruit trees, and there were some already established. I have been slowly growing the vegetable and flower garden, expanding bit by bit each year. The growing season is so much longer than in the PNW. I have been preserving the harvest through canning, freeze drying and freezing. I have one neighbor in particular who has been a great resource for helping me get used to how growing works down here.
@@katherinehepperle4630 What a beautiful lifestyle you are building in Alabama! I started gardening in Tulsa and was amazed at how long the growing season is there too - early spring comes in Feb or March and you can keep growing through the end of October/early November (with frost protection). I have a huge sweet tooth, so fruit trees are at the top of my "want" list!
One more thing.....have you heard of Tasha Tudor?
I have not! I am familiar with the Tudor family who ruled England (in fact, I'm just reading a book about Richard III now), but I suspect that's not the historical context you meant. :P
I love Tasha Tudor! Her picture hangs on my kitchen wall!
@@MsAgatha1Eta I've been Googling Tasha Tudor and wow! I can't believe I hadn't heard of her before. I love her drawing style; I would love to be able to draw even half as well someday!
What was the name of Lisa ? Sourdough book
Lisa Bass?
I think her book just got on Amazon if that is what you were hoping for. I actually pulled my starter out of the fridge this morning for winter baking. I need to babysit it a bit to get it active again :)
Lisa Bass is the author's name. She's on TH-cam: th-cam.com/users/farmhouseonboone and her website is farmhouseonboone.com. She has TONS of recipes on her site!
The book is called Daily Sourdough, and you can buy it from the publisher's website here: homesteadliving.com/daily-sourdough/ or, as Brenda said, it just released on Amazon here: www.amazon.com/Daily-Sourdough-Healthy-Recipes-Every/dp/1963008006.
@ thank you!
@@redbud70 I hope you check her out! Tons of great recipes, and all the ones I've made so far have been delicious.
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Thank you, Sharlette! I'm glad you enjoyed the Q&A.
@ you are an absolute wonderful lady replying to absolutely every person who watches your video and comments your kind heart resonates through everything you do✨❤️✨🙏
@@sharlettedavidson81 I love reading the comments! It's so fun to share this journey with interesting and kind people from all over!