360K on 1.5 Acres? 360K on 1.5 Acres!! Neversink Farm

Posted on by February 2, 2018

Here’s a guy who said that he doesn’t raise pigs to make money….he has the farm to make money.

He raises pigs to have meat that he knows where it came from…how it was raised.

That’s such a side issue in the whole story…but…I guess an important point.

He makes his money with a highly productive farm that supports all the other things that his family wants to do.

They originally moved to the country to homestead….not to farm….but now the farm supports the homestead.

Now that they’re making money….they can have bees…and chickens….and all the other things that a typical homestead has.

He’s made a situation for his family that supports a lifestyle.

It’s easier when you have an income.

Still hard to create an income….but easier than doing it all (the homesteading) without any money.

This is an inspiring story….and I’m glad I had a chance to get to know about this farm and how they did all this….and….to “meet” this guy.

He seems like a pretty good dude.

The name of the farm is Neversink Farm….and you can find out more about them at www.neversinkfarm.com .

I lay them down….gently

Posted on by February 1, 2018

You have a million or so kind and decent people working for the Post Office….but the ones they get on video are the jerks who throw packages.

OK….a “million or so” can’t be right.

Surely there aren’t that many people working for the PO.

Surely.

You have to agree, though, that 30 feet is a pretty good effort.

That’s a long way to throw a package.

I wouldn’t do it….but….that’s quite a bit of air.

That was so wrong to throw that package.

What was that mailman thinking?

cheeeeep……cheeeeeep……cheeeep (cluck?)

Posted on by January 31, 2018

This is a common sound when you work at a rural post office.

I’m always glad when the folks come and pick them up quickly, though.

A bunch of chicks in a shipping container are noisy.

What a treat it is for kids to get to see chicks….and see them grow and lay eggs.

That’s a good thing for a family.

Now if we could just keep our Great Pyrenees, Appa, from “loving them to death” (he’s a thorough and aggressive “groomer”).

That is so much fun to get some new chicks!

It’s a better kind of fun to get a box of chicks than to get a new video game.

What’s IMHO?

In my humble opinion?

Cutting some Wood….in Sweden

Posted on by January 30, 2018

Here’s a fellow getting a year’s worth of firewood together….in Sweden.

It doesn’t matter that it’s in Sweden….just makes it a little more exotic.

Putting wood up is the same all over the world, though….you cut, you split, you dry, you burn.

Nothing exotic about that…even if it is in Sweden.

Here’s a video of the stoves that his family burns that wood in.

They do look a little different than the ones we use here.

But….wait…our woodstove is a Jotul….. a Norwegian stove!

Man…it’s a small world.

Nothing’s all that exotic when you think about it.

These videos are from a YouTube channel called “Swedish Homestead“.

Alone in the Past….

Posted on by January 29, 2018

Another great video from the “Northmen” YouTube channel.

This time, it’s a young guy who lives for a time without modern conveniences….like the video says: 240 days in 10th Century conditions.

It’s subtitled….and…there’s a goat killing segment…so…if you’re squeamish about “goat killing segments”….well….there’s one of those….but…like all of the Northmen videos…it’s a good one.

A video like this is almost motivational.

We have it pretty easy these days….with all of our modern conveniences.

A “simple life” would be pretty hard.

Even choosing to live a “simple life” comes with the promise that we could always jump out of it if we needed to.

This guy doesn’t have that option….at least, apparently, for the 240 days he’s choosing to live like this.

I should appreciate even more about my life.

Easy Peezy.

 

Another Great Video from the “Northmen” YouTube channel…”Traditional Finnish Log House Building Process”

Posted on by January 28, 2018

If you haven’t checked out either the “Northmen” channel on YouTube or visited their website ( http://www.northmen.com ) …well….you should.

It’s some good stuff.

“Northmen” is a collection of artists….builders….knife makers.

Good stuff.

Good stuff.

Did I say that already?

Check them out.

And….these Finnish guys are something else.

It’s good to see skills at work.

more “process”….knife making

Posted on by January 27, 2018

Here’s another knife making video…this time using fairly common hand tools.

It’s not the tools, though….it’s the person using them.

Like a guitarist with talent can make any guitar sound good….a person with skills can make something good if they knows what they’re doing.

That’s encouraging.

These YouTube videos are fun to watch.

How else would I get a chance to see this?

How’do these Russian Dudes find so Much Time to Screw around in the Woods?

Posted on by January 26, 2018

I don’t understand the language….but I can see that these Russian Dudes are spending some time building stuff and showing off their bushcrafting skills…and…I wonder how they do it.

There’s jelly or something on the keyboard….and Nate is staying home sick from school again….playing on the Wii….and I don’t have time to write a proper and thoughtful blog post……and….somewhere…these Russian Dudes are out in the woods screwing around.

What the heck is all over this freaking keyboard?

What did these kids do to my keyboard?

I’d rather be me than some Russian Dude out in the woods….but….WHAT THE HECK DID THEY GET ON THE KEYBOARD?!!

It’s sticky as heck.

I need to build a log fire cannon someday.

Maybe I’ll get these kids out in the woods….get them each set up with a good bushcrafting knife….teach them how to build a new city.

Then I can ask, “Who got pine pitch all over my sleeping bag?!!”

Enough of these keyboard worries….I need them to make some outdoor gear sticky with pine pitch.

Reorient my surprise at their abilities.

Legion and the Pigs

Posted on by January 25, 2018

Image result for pig

I’m listening to my Bible CD again out on the mail route.

It’s the New Testament….so I’m skipping a lot of the rough stuff in the Old Testament.

I’m in the part where Christ is born and then crucified.

I take it back.

That’s some rough stuff in the New Testament, too.

It’s a British guy doing the reading.

Anyway, one of the stories is the confrontation with a possessed guy who, when Christ asks,”What is your name?” answers…….”LEGION!!”

Even with a British dude doing the reading, it’s kind of scary the way he says, “LEGION!!”

In the story, this demon pleads not to be hurt by Jesus….because he recognizes who Jesus is…so Christ kicks the demons (there’s a bunch of demons in this guy….that’s why he’s called “Legion”) out of him….and sends them into a nearby herd of pigs.

WHAT?!!

Then….the pigs freak out and run off the land into the lake and they all ….DIE!!

All the pigs….and, depending on which part you’re in, they could be like, maybe, four or five thousand pigs….anyway….they all die in the lake.

WHAT!!

I was listening to this and thinking, “What the heck?”

This is a long-winded way of saying that I was imagining the farmer running up the hill as he watched all this transpiring, not understanding the historical and theological aspects of it all, screaming at the top of his lungs,

“HEY!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY PIGS?!! DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO GET THOUSANDS OF PIGS TOGETHER OUT HERE?!! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? I DON’T HAVE INSURANCE AGAINST SOMETHING LIKE MASS DEMON SWINE POSSESSION!! I DIDN’T BUY THAT RIDER!!! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!”

That was great to get Legion out of that guy…but…all those pigs?

That poor farmer.

Man.

That was a lot of pigs.

That’s some crazy stuff…imagining all those pigs running off into the lake.

And….wait until you get to the part where Jesus kills the fig tree.

What was that about?

There are lots of better parts in there….but….those pigs have got me flummoxed.

Wild.

 

the tools to make a hammer….

Posted on by January 24, 2018

You can turn the sound down on this one, I guess.

I don’t think that I can understand this language.

Darn “Tower of Babel”.

This video is good though.

It all starts with making a hammer.

You need something in the woods to whack stuff with.

Check out the teakettle on the burning log about 12:00 minutes in!

What’s that about?

Skills, man….skills.

Of course, if I was with a group of my treehuggin’ backpacking buddies and we came upon a Russian bushcrafter who was cutting down trees and building a camp like this, we’d say, “WTF?!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? CAN YOU EVEN UNDERSTAND US?!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING….CUTTING DOWN ALL THESE TREES?!!”

It would be a freak out for us….for sure.

But…..this is cool…..making all this stuff out in the woods.

Sorry, treehuggin’ buddies.

I think it’s cool.

And…don’t turn the sound down.

The music is nice….and…it’s kind of comforting not to have to understand what this dude is saying.

We don’t have to understand everything to appreciate it.