Ideas to Consider When Deciding to Live off the Land

Dear Pearl,
I have big 5 bedroom,2 bath home, I wish to sell so I can go to doing what I love - being more self sufficient, and independent!
Sharon
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Sharon ~

Wonderful! It's such a nice feeling - when you finally start moving towards your goals & see them come to life!

Not knowing what your new goals are, I want to give you a few suggestions that have really helped me in taking new steps in life.

I would suggest that you sit down with a piece of pager & start writing down all of the things that you feel are most important about this next step of your life. Now, go over the list & ask yourself these questions:

- Why are these things a priority to me?

- Is this something that I REALLY want to do, or do I like the thought of doing it more than the reality of it?

Lets say - you want to raise cows so you can make your own butter. Are you ready to dedicate you daily life to getting up very early each morning & milking the cows? What if you want to travel? How are you going to handle the clean up & care - even through the coldest winter? Would it be wiser to just buy your own butter for a few dollars? Could you purchase milk/cream from a local farmer & use that to make your butter?

Lets say, you want to be like Martha Stewart (remember these are simply examples *Big Smile) & raise your own chickens. You think it would be wonderful to raise your own meat. Are you prepared to feed - clean - and care for a bunch of chickens each day? Are you ready to do what you have to do to keep away all of the creatures who want to share the rewards of your new henhouse - including rats? Do you have it in yourself to prepare a chicken for dinner?

Lets say, you want to grow acres of wheat so you can bake your own homemade breads. Do you have enough land to support the crop? Is the land prepared? If not, will you be able to prepare it for planting? Do you have access to large farm equipment? If not, will the expense of the equipment balance out what you would spend on bread each week? Could you buy your wheat berries from a local co-op? Could you buy your berries from a local farmer? Could you buy homemade bread from an organic baker?

I know when I first started thinking about "living off of our own little piece of land", I had a long list of things I wanted to do. But the more I thought it over, and the more I researched everything out, the more items I crossed off of my list ;) We can't wait to get started building our new home & getting our gardens set in! My list has turned into mostly - a greenhouse for food & flowers - garden food - bigger flower gardens - a few chickens - lots of entertaining - and thoroughly enjoying of our property :)

These are all simply examples - and if you can honestly answer these questions & still want to pursue avenues like these - by all means - go for it! The reason I ask is, many times people get so excited about the whole "thought" of living off the land, but they haven't counted the cost beforehand & then become so disappointed with themselves if something doesn't work out the way they had planned. But... when you are prepared (well, as prepared as you can be - never having done these types of things before), you will have a better understanding of what is to come. And... there is no shame in trying something, only to have it not work out. Just do your best to look into all that a new task will require of you.

Sharon - I am so excited for you! Congratulations!

Let me Introduce You to my Parrot - Kramer

I've always loved birds - especially ones that can talk :) Several years ago, I asked my husband for an African Gray Parrot, but because they cost in the neighborhood of $1,200 - $1,600, we simply did not have the extra to spend. My husband,in his wisdom said, "If you can find one for $100 you can have one!"

Well, if you know me, I had to find a creative way to make that happen (creative thinking & prayer of course ;) Well, it wasn't long before someone gave me my first African Gray! He was such a joy to our entire family!

While researching the prices of these particular parrots, I found out that it cost just as much for a breeding pair of birds, as it did for a single hand fed baby bird. So.... as you can guess, I decided to start breeding these beautiful birds.

You can find a "proven" (have already proven to be successful parents) pair of breeding birds for approx. $1,400 - $1,600, and they average approx. 2-3 eggs per clutch. Needless to say, they have been a wonderful learning experience for my children, great new additions to many families, and a nice source of extra income.

In comes Kramer......

Kramer is a single male bird that I purchased from a breeder. She had a phone call from a single guy who was in a hurry to move & needed to find a new home for his bird - Kramer.
I fell in love with him & made him a part of our family. He has a wonderful vocabulary - although he needed to "unlearn" some of the "colorful" words that he had learned while living with the partying bachelor :)

He screams like little girls outside playing on a play ground - which he must have heard from his cage inside the house. He loves to scream like a frightened lady - saying "get him off - get him -off". That must have been when he went over to greet an unsuspecting female visitor :) Kramer loves my kids & likes to "call" them for super - especially Daniel, our oldest.

I'll post some pictures soon - until then, I'll also let Kramer speak for himself now & then.

Happy days to you!

Pearl
Living The Good Life With The Income You Already Have
http://www.LittleCountryVillage.com

From Kramer The Parrot

Frugal Cottage Gardening For Temporary Spaces

Hello Pearl, I found your site while looking for more info on cottage gardens. I really enjoyed it. My dream for a cottage garden is finally coming together. My husband, 14 y/o daughter & I have gone from apt. Living w/out even a balcony to a 2 bedroom mobile home but it has a yard, small yard but a yard nonetheless. While in the apt. he extended our windowsill so I managed to grow some flowers, herbs & tomatoes. Now at 53 y/old, I am planning my cottage garden. My problem is I have a septic tank & that I hate. We don't own this mobile home & we are buying either a small bungalow or a doulble-wide mobile home next year. I was wondering if you had any ideas about which plants & flowers were best for a container garden w/ a cottage garden in mind. That is what I was researching when I found your site. I dont want to go thru all that work yet until I own my peice of property. Any ideas? Thanks for your time. Also I wanted to mention I enjoyed your biblical scripture on the site. Thanks' Michele P.
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Michele -

Thanks for taking the time to write.

I know what it's like to have to "wait" on the things you desire, but until then, there are some things that you can do. Without knowing what your climate or what you already have to work with, I will still try to give you some idea that you can work with.

- I find most of my gardening items at discount stores
I'm always amazed at my great finds, not to mention how much money I am able to save!

- But things that you love
Even though you will only spend a short time in your current home, you will want to spend your money wisely - after all, that will help you get into your new home faster :) So... buy things that you will bring with you to your new garden.

- Shepard's hooks are very useful
These hooks are the tall iron poles with a loop at the top for hanging things on. Not only do they add a needed support element, but they are decorative as well. Use these hooks to hang things such as; plants, bird feeders, candle jars, etc.

- Add lots of elements that you can "find" around the countryside - free of charge
Do you have any friends that live near you - that would love for you to "help them clean up their land" :) Adding things such as - stones, ferns, and moss can add a real feeling of maturity to a garden.

- Add some height
Grow lots of annual vines such as morning glories to bring some height to your space. Use long fallen branches to stick into the ground & weave together at the top to form a natural arbor - then grow your vines up these arbors to add a quick "wall" of color. You could also place the branches in the ground tepee style & tie them at the top with raffia or twine.

- Add some trickle!
Water is always a wonderful addition to any garden space! Adding water is both easy & inexpensive! Take a look at our articles on adding water to the garden http://www.LittleCountryVillage.com/garden.shtml

Flowers
- perennials kept in pots & protected during the winter provide foundation plants that you can take to your new garden.

- add annuals that catch your eye (many annuals will continue to bloom all season and you can purchase a whole flat at your local discount store for under $5)

- green filler plants such as coleus - although coleus is considered a non-flower, the leaves come in beautiful shades of color. Coleus is also VERY easy to propagate

- seeds - you can find packets of flowers for under .70 at your local discount store (I buy mine for .10 each!) For a cottage garden look - simply scatter a mixture of seeds in your pots & keep them watered. You could use window box planters & line them up near the house for a "flower bed border" look, then you can use the window boxes on your new windows.

- Tea for 2
In the middle of your "garden" place a small round table & a couple of chairs. Dress the top of the table with a pretty pot of flowers or a small water fountain. Build your planters - and all of your other garden elements around this seating area. This will give you a "garden room" feeling for you to enjoy.

- Shade
If you don't already have some shade, you might consider adding a shady space to your garden for you to escape to during the hot sunny days this summer. You can achieve this by putting up a canopy (they have really pretty ones at the big super-marts this year for under $100) - or simply draping some gauzy fabric from the tree branches around your yard to give that romantic canopy feeling.

These are all ideas to give you a beautiful - but temporary cottage garden space. If you'll also notice, none of these ideas require digging or altering the grounds at all.

Happy Gardening!

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3 tbsp cocoa butter
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Melt & mix all ingredients until smooth.
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