Spring Scramble

Year one of the Big Mountain Homestead adventure is in full swing! I spent the winter dreaming of springtime and the opportunity to kick building our life into high gear. Ever since the snow began to melt, my husband and I have been hard at work! It has been a beautiful few months of expansion and excitement. And serious exhaustion and overwhelm. The long days are full to the brim and fly by incredibly quickly.

We now have 20 animals! Most of them are chickens. We are also keeping a guinea hen, 3 ducks, a dairy cow, and a horse. All while raising up our baby son, learning to garden in a cold climate, and teaching our two former city dogs how to do farm life. For two people who didn’t grow up in this lifestyle it has been on an intense learning curve!  There are still so many things I’d love to do, but I am really glad we waited on starting our house construction and getting the bees, pigs, meat rabbits and sheep that I dream of adding to the homestead. I’ve never worked this hard in my life! Sitting at a desk collecting a paycheck was easier. But putting in the work for a life outside of corrupt systems and in alignment with my values is worth it. Yet sometimes at the end of the day when I am too tired to brush my teeth, too tired to make the cookies I promised my husband, and generally too tired to take care of myself and my family the way I’d like to, it can put me in a bad mood. There’s no end to the things that need to be done, and I often feel like I didn’t do enough. And there are zero days off at this point. But I know those discouraged feelings are only temporary. Building and growing can be painful, which is totally okay. My daily lists always contain two or three times the number of things that can realistically be accomplished. But that has to be okay too. I am what I am. My husband and I have a running joke about everything being another, “high priority task”. As intense as it can be, I’m pleased to live a life where every night I head to bed completely spent, and with my mind bursting with more ideas and plans. We are building something incredible here together! It’s also really wonderful to step out of my front door each day and be immersed in the forest. I can instantly go on the kind of walks and hikes that I used to have to drive hours to find… when I can find the time.

One of the first things we did this spring was build a custom chicken coop so that we could get our chickens as soon as possible. We were so motivated that the foundation for the coop was up even before the ground had thawed. I absolutely love our design! It has a really cool old west saloon vibe, and the siding is made from wood planks that were already on the property. Brandon took care of designing and building it. I helped here and there, holding things up so he could nail them or check the level. Mainly, I provided the motivation by constantly saying we need chickens. We have a fenced run around it, but the plan is to free-range them once they are grown. Like so many new homesteaders, I couldn’t wait to run down to the local feed store and pick them out! We ended up with 3 Rhode Island Reds, 2 Amber Whites, and 2 Bantams. Since that initial pickup we’ve added 4 Delaware and 3 Peking ducks. And Brandon’s mom will be bringing us a couple birds from her flock in a week or so. We also briefly had a rooster. But he has escaped the pen and now free ranges in the state forest and all around the mountain. I hear him each morning crowing with the rising sun, and I hope he rejoins the flock soon. He cruises by now and then, but I have no idea how I’m going to catch him. The ducklings have made their transition into the flock and are doing really well. It is so funny to see how assertive they are, even on day one! I was concerned the hens would peck or bully them, but the ducklings actually chase the chickens around!

I am so happy that the ducks are out of the brooder box we had in the camper. The Delawares are still inside, but I am close to being done with raising baby birds this year, and I could not be more pleased about that! If you think raising a brooder box of chicks and ducks in an off-grid camper sounds like a nightmare, you’re absolutely right! A smelly, noisy nightmare. It is my dearest hope that I have some nice broody mamas. I want to be able to rely on the natural way for future chicks and ducklings. But I do love my flock! It is worth it. They are sweet and really easy to handle. I had very little experience with birds before this and was a bit freaked out at first. But it turns out they really like interacting with humans. They run right up to the fence whenever I approach and are getting into a smooth routine going back into the coop at night. It’s wonderful to be on this journey towards having our own source of eggs and eventually chicken meat. This is a main pillar of the self-sufficient food philosophy. We can sure eat dozens of eggs! And as our family grows, that will only increase.  

Getting a dairy cow was also top of the list this spring. After I had brought home my Jersey, Charlotte, I found out that my great-grandma always said Jersey cows have the most difficult personalities, smallest teats for milking, and lowest milk yield. She only kept one Jersey for the high cream content but otherwise wouldn’t deal with them. As it turns out, that absolutely tracks with my experience. Those issues aside, Charlotte is a wonderful addition to the homestead. She is very friendly, loves to lick us with her long rough tongue, and she absolutely adores my baby son. She’s hilarious and playful, kicking up her heels in joyful bucks, jumping over logs in the pasture, and running up to the fence when delivery drivers arrive. However, she was very dramatic about being hobbled for milking. We didn’t want to do that (another thing my great-grandma said is that hobbling a Jersey changes the milk). So we started off hoping that a big bucket of grain would keep her still. But she would knock me over, trample me, slap me with her tail, and step into the milk bucket. Thankfully, my husband built us a proper milking stall called a stanchion. I was finally able to use it this week! The first try wasn’t a great experience. Without her legs tied, she stepped in the milk pail and spilled it repeatedly. She also kicked my dog in the head when she tried to lap up the spilled milk and stepped on my toe. It was a rough start, but throughout the week we’ve adjusted to the new system. Charlotte is definitely much happier now, and despite the fact that she still tries to step in the pail, things will likely improve even more from here. The milking processes can be an enjoyable, meditative experience when she is cooperating…

Raw milk tastes so good! I also believe it is healthier and more nutritious than pasteurized milk. It makes me so happy to be able to provide that for my family. And this is only the beginning. I dream of fresh homemade butter, cheese, yogurt, and cooking with buttermilk. I have already taken a try at making butter! My first attempt definitely could have turned out better. It tasted good enough, but it wasn’t yellow like it should be. It also took an hour in the stand mixer, had a very short shelf life, and oozed buttermilk out. Since then, I’ve made two small batches by just shaking the milk up by hand in a mason jar. And those both turned out great! Sometimes, simple is best.

It has been a lifelong dream come true to have my horse on my property! Before settling down in Montana we were traveling so I had him in a large herd out in a pasture in Oregon. I thought he would love having an opportunity to be a horse and live with other horses and tons of space. Instead, he lost a scary amount of weight and developed a behavioral issue called cribbing. So, over the winter Brandon began constructing a paddock for him. We brought him home in late March, at the first opportunity to drive safely on the roads. I’m happy to say he is making great progress. I’ve even been able to get on him and ride him around the property. The experience of riding my horse on my own land filled my soul with the purest joy. We’ve been slowly clearing rocks and debris to create a riding area. As his condition improves, I’m sure I’ll focus more on developing that out.

One of the most daunting and yet gratifying attempts to move towards taking care of my animals myself has been trimming his hooves (I also intend to trim Charlotte). Since he doesn’t wear horse shoes, it makes it possible for me to do the maintenance without having to learn blacksmithing and buy even more expensive equipment. I’ve done one trim, and while I can’t say that the first attempt went perfectly, I am still determined to do this. Wielding the clippers and file is so much harder than it looks! I’ve watched farriers trim my horses for most of my life. But it is a whole different thing to jump into performing that myself! Despite the insecurity and the fear that comes up, I am happy to be pushing myself and learning such an important skill.

Another thing we jumped on before the snow had melted was clearing out a garden space. Bless our wonderful neighbors for all their help. Without them there may not have even been a garden this year. They let us use their machinery to level the frozen ground and dig holes for the fence posts. I am so grateful because to me there isn’t anything better than eating fresh from a garden. Now I’ve got spinach. I’ve got kale. I’ve got mustard greens, arugula, lettuce, and herbs all ready to go! I’ve planted peas, strawberries, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, various beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant. I just planted an area to a fava bean cover crop, and plan to plant corn and potatoes next.

Someday I absolutely intend to build a beautiful glass greenhouse, but this year I needed to just install a plastic kit with raised beds inside. Brandon made a couple of the raised beds with our own wood, and those are by far my favorite ones! But this was before we got the sawmill, and so he was doing the milling with the chainsaw. Feeling pressure to get planting, we purchased some lumber. We also fenced in an area for an outdoor garden. It was a really fun process for me, as I got to see the Sho Shugi Ban technique for prolonging the life of our posts. My husband took trees from the property, removed the bark, burned the underground portion in the fire pit, and then coated the burnt ends with used hydraulic oil we got for free from the dump. The charcoal deters insects and even protects from rot! Now, we are set up with a deer fence that will be standing for many years to come. Along with the garden came the intense work of prepping the rocky mountain soil. This has been an experience in understanding the land I live on. The topsoil, which we also used to fill the raised beds, is a beautiful dark color indicating there’s organic matter there. However, it’s also heavy in clay and comes with rocks and sticks galore. The clay is great for water retention, but it is too dense. The soil cracks and becomes like cement between waterings. At this point I’m really not sure if my carrots will be able to produce anything underground. So, soil improvement will be a project of mine over the next several years! Luckily, I have all the compostable manure a girl could ever dream of!

I’m very proud of how our dogs have adjusted to this life! First of all, with so much room to run and explore off leash they don’t have pent up energy that turns into bad behaviors. Plus, we are with them so much that their training has progressed in leaps and bounds. They were fairly easy to show where the property borders are and generally respect them. After a little bit of drama initially, we have successfully introduced them to the horse and cow. They’d truly love to chase them, but they have pretty much cut that out. It’s been a little harder with the chickens. Mainly because they can’t defend themselves the way the larger animals can. Both my large dog, Lady, and the neighbor’s giant puppy have broken into the chicken run. And both of them were caught with the same chicken in their mouths. Underneath her wing, the skin was flayed back a few inches, and she was limping pathetically after the second attack. We thought she might not survive. But then, over the next few days, she healed up and is now by far our most badass and beloved bird. Oh, Lady was in so much trouble. She had to stay by our side and lost all her freedom privileges until she realized the birds are part of our farm and not chew toys. But she still gets up to no good. The most recent time she was caught in the pen she was just hanging out with them. They seemed completely unbothered by the intrusion. But it’s still against the rules. Obviously, predator proofing in the bird run leaves much to be desired. At some point, we may end up fortifying the fence somehow.

Unfortunately, it hasn’t all been good luck. We have had two losses to contend with this spring. One of our Delaware chicks succumbed to “pasty butt” despite my efforts to keep her vent clean. And one of our guinea hens ate part of a plastic tarp and wasn’t able to pass it through her system. She died in my husband’s hands and so we honored her by butchering and eating her for dinner. She was delicious roasted on a bed of potatoes, onions, and mushrooms. I hope we can prevent those scenarios moving forward, but I also realize that these things happen when raising animals.

This spring Brandon also expanded our Renogy solar system! We pulled the four panels off of our Prowler camper and added them to the four we had stationary at the homestead. We were then able to reposition the solar panels to also get more sunlight on them, and rarely need to run the generator. On a sunny day we can get our large battery bank up to 100% and so I know we won’t need to supplement power as we move into summer and fall.  The solar project led to repositioning the camper we live in, so now we have a front yard area when we walk out the door. I really like it! We’ve got buckets of beautiful flowers, benches, and so on.

Thankfully, it’s not all work work work here on the homestead. One of the best things about warm weather is day drinking and hanging out with friends. Before the snow had even fully melted, we invited a few of our friends over to play dominoes, barbeque, and drink in the sunshine. It was so much fun! We felt like we had done a lot to create a hangout area and get ready for guests. But after that day, we really got to work making our chilling spot even better! Brandon built some simple wooden benches, brought our propane grill out for the season, and built a fire pit with our cooking tripod grill over it.  It’s the perfect place to set up our son’s playpen, sit down, and watch Charlotte and Kenobi in the nearby paddock. Another thing we do for fun is to enjoy spending time on our 20 acres! There’s a big ol’ mountain to hike with edibles to forage and a wonderful little creek to sit beside and splash in. The days we shirk our project goals and head down as a family to read by the creek have been some of my favorites this year. And guess what! The forest gifted us morel mushrooms. We were able to collect enough for two meals so far. Next year we can start the hunt even earlier since we have found numerous decayed ones. I’ve also found wild strawberries, yarrow, wild onions, dandelion, wild rose, and of course pine! This is also the second year I have started a dandelion mead fermentation in the spring. It’s a beautiful tradition that makes me so happy! I loved picking the flowers with my baby and hand making a drink that brings us plant and honey medicine as well as a nice fun buzz to welcome in the warm season. Plus, it tastes delicious! The fermentation went great, and I enjoyed it with my family by the creek on a recent warm afternoon.

It’s been such a whirlwind lately! But the air smells so good, the sound of the creek and the birds are so soothing, and life is extremely sweet. I am at peace with the knowledge that we are going to be hard at work every day until winter comes. It’s exciting to imagine the results considering how far we’ve come already! We need a cold storage cellar, to finish the siding on the first shed, build more sheds, clear underbrush, build trails and bridges, build a permanent house, develop our mead business, and infinite more projects that we come up with constantly. We have at least the next 20 years of work cut out for us! I can’t wait to share more with you as the warm seasons progress.