Let's celebrate homestead firsts

[Deberosa]

As I was picking my first ever home grown strawberries from the garden, it occurred to me that we all have alot of firsts to celebrate as we try out new things.

So how about it - what homestead first have you accomplished recently?

Debbie

[ms-woman]

We saved the old peach tree in the back yard! This is the first time its ever put on fruit, they are already as big as my fist! Can't wait until they are ripe.

[Clair_Schwan]

Our first full season for greenhouses 1 and 2. They are both producing lots of vegetables and have given us a great head start on the season. We couldn't have asked for better results for first time greenhouse gardeners.

It was a lot of work and a considerable investment last year, but we will be knocking out the produce bill this year and should be able to provide sufficient canned, frozen and dried food to last until next year's summer crops start to bear fruit.

This year will also be our first attempt to grow and harvest throughout the winter months, with little or no heat provided to the greenhouses (we'll have 3 by the fall planting season). We'll use row covers and cold frames to get cold hardy crops through as much winter as we can.

If you are interested in seeing our efforts to be self-sufficient in the world of produce, visit us at http://www.frugal-living-freedom.com

I'll be updating photos of the vegetables as they start to get serious about bearing fruit. Pictures of our mature vegetables will be incorporated in pages of the website dedicated to greenhouse gardening, harvesting and organic gardening.

Also, this year it looks like peaches and apples for the first time.

[msta999]

This is my very first garden that has produced anything worth eating. This is also the first lettuce I have ever grown and eaten. I have made my first jerky and it was eatable. I have started my first survival kit of useful books, should TSHTF. I figure I'll back them in a container and give them to my son, when he is at least in his mid to late 20's and tell him to store them in a safe location, just in case. I have lots of first in the past 6 months. This stuff just never accured to me in the past. Thank you guys/gals, if it wasn't for you and this site, I would not have done any of it.

[sbemt456]

Oh gosh, firsts, I got a few strawberries from the plants I put out this year, does that count? Yesterday we got the first cabbage head from the garden, 1 cuke, I canned 5 qts of beet pickles last week and have 2 more 50 ft rows ready. We have had yellow and zucchini for 2 weeks now. And of course the green onions and lettuce for the past month.
A friend had bunches of cherries on her trees this year and gave us a bunch, so far for the first time I have canned about 10 qts of cherry pie filling. Made one qt into a pie and it was awesome.
OK I'm done bragging now! Good luck to all this season>

stella

[Deberosa]

Wow - great accomplishments and all firsts! We are raising our first pigs and that is turning out really well.

[JakeLeg]

Not necessarily something to celebrate, but, after 4 years in our current place, we had our first "dog sprayed in the face by a skunk" the other night. >:(

Hopefully, in very short order, we'll also have the first "dead skunk shot out in the sideyard". 8)

[gsb]

Planted my first garden. 3 foot by 20 foot strip of dirt next to my house and several pots. Onions, carrots, tomatoes, beans, corn, peas, potatoes, cucs, lettuce, peppers, strawberries, all growing. Then rented a tiller, never done that before, and tilled up a 20x26 garden and planted a late garden. Will have to waite and see on that. Corn is sprouting and some onions, but nothing else yet. Started canning.

[mom]

First time to raise "birds" for me. Husband has had them before but my ex-husband always fussed and said "cant have chickens/ducks with lab dogs". Nonsense - she totally ignors them

[jen_in_southtexas]

First time to ever put fencing up. Doing it by myself too!! Have put up 200 ft so far. Need about 170 ft to go give or take.

-j

[walls0stone]

first season talking about what I've done all my life...on a forum :)

Hey Jen, if you would like to build more of that fence... come on up. got miles to rebuild this year.

[jen_in_southtexas]

walls0stone,

Id be glad to give you a hand. But i dont know about miles and miles of it. ;D

-j

[walls0stone]

Could be your FIRST TIME in PA::)

[bookwormom]

let me see, I have my first cow and learned how to milk her. and I planted artichokes, they are barely hanging in there, I thought they liked hot weather, I was looking forward to be able to grow them here. we got an incubator, that is a first. one of my currant bushes had a few berries on it. Hope next year there will be more.

[humbug]

This is not really a first..because I did it growing up but I haven't butchered chickens in about 25 years. I did have to read up on it so that I could remember what I was supposed to do... :o It went well, however I know that I have gotten older....I will be taken some Advil for the back ache I have from leaning over... ::)

[Deberosa]

This is not really a first..because I did it growing up but I haven't butchered chickens in about 25 years. I did have to read up on it so that I could remember what I was supposed to do... :o It went well, however I know that I have gotten older....I will be taken some Advil for the back ache I have from leaning over... ::)

I put my outdoor sink arrangement on some cinderblocks to raise it up a bit because chicken processing day was so hard on my back. If you can raise your work area up about 6 to 8 inches it will be alot easier.

[mom]

I put my outdoor sink arrangement on some cinderblocks to raise it up a bit because chicken processing day was so hard on my back. *If you can raise your work area up about 6 to 8 inches it will be alot easier.

or if you are short like me - lower it

First - ate the first sweetcorn of the year last night. Like eating sugar off a cobb. Thankfully only a little is ready so I have a day or two to prepare for canning/freezing the majority of it

[rockymtngirl]

Just picked the last of my strawberries - this was the first year we had a good crop - my berry area is pretty small - but I think I may have enough for one batch of jam :D

[leera]

Looking to buy my first house to turn into a homestead......does that count? :D

[Suzy]

Got to tour an underground house AND a straw bale house on Thursday for an article I'm writing for my Simple Times column....I've read about underground homes and straw bale homes for years but it was really neat to actually get to spend some time there and hear stories about when they were building them, what they would do differently, etc.

The guy who "hosted" me has a mainly solar energy company now and a lot of the ideas for those homes can also be adapted to all of our homesteads....

So it was not quite as exciting as when my first goat kid was born on the farm about five years ago, or when our first hen laid her first egg in 2000 but it was an INTERESTING first! This is a neat thread!

[JakeLeg]

as of a few hours ago, i replaced my first deep well pump. actually my first well pump ever. water pressure dropped last night, and this a.m. i check with my older wiser neighbor (we trade knowledge and assistance often) if he'd done it. fortunately he had, and within a half hour we had the old 100' assembly out of the ground, diagnosed the problem - rusty pump housing had developed a leak in its output fitting.

we decided to replace the entire thing - new pump, new flexible pump pipe, new elec cable, new safety rope, new anti-torque boot, new cap, new fittings, etc. had to travel about 1/2 hour to the big box home improvement store because the local hardware doesn't carry the pumps but for special order. (48 hour turnaround)

whole job was done start-finish in under 6 hours and at a total cost of parts plus a case of beer under $650. we even upgraded from a 1/2 horsepower to a 3/4 horsepower.

it was easy enough that i'm totally confident that i could do it again. awesome.

[cubcadet]

We`re growing sunflowers for the seeds and stalks. Seeds mainly for re-sale and for value-added product as sprouts to local health food store-stalks for walking sticks for some winter income.