The Western Reserve Homestead Summit Starring Uncle Mud and his Mom (and also Joel Salatin)

January 18-19 2025

Hey Ohio Mud Family, there's still a few tickets left for the Western Reserve Homestead Summit this weekend January 18-19 2025 at Lake Farm Park in Kirtland Ohio. There will be some great speakers there like Joel Salatin, who appears to be scheduled to talk all day both days. I hope he took his vitamins. I will also be there both days, talking all day in my very own (indoor) Mud Pit playing with the kids, building an earthen pizza oven, a Rocket Mass Heater, a $25 composting toilet, and talking about cob, building code, and mortgage free housing.

There will also be several local homestead and regenerative agriculture experts talking about their favorite things, including local historian, genealogist and author, Cheryl McClellan aka The "Log Cabin Lady", who also happens to be my fabulous mom. She has a bunch of homesteading activities and crafts for the kids to help connect them with the land and our heritage.

The web site is www.westernreservehomesteadsummit.com
Coupon code MudFamily will get you 10% off on Sunday. Come play in the mud with us.

Saturday 1-18-2025
9:30 BUILD A $25 COMPOSTING TOILET: Join Uncle Mud for an hour of poop jokes and sanitary advice. This time tested system safely turns human waste into top quality fertilizer with no plumbing required. Ideal for emergencies, camps, cabins, van life and even just to lower your water bill and environmental footprint. Your garden will love you!

10:45 STENCILING: Before there were fancy printers and computers there were stencils. They were used to label crates and barrels, make signs or decorate anything you could think of: walls, floors, ceilings, carpets, even books. Make your own stencil artwork while you hear about traditional and modern uses for this useful and beautiful art. Learn where to see local examples of stenciling in homesteads of the past.

12:15 FAIRY HOUSES TO FORTS WITH UNCLE MUD–EARTHEN BUILDING FOR KIDS: (Well behaved adults are also welcome). Play in the mud with Uncle Mud and Family. Use clay, straw, stones, and sticks to build little houses you can take home. We’ll also talk about how we can use these same materials to build bigger things like forts, rabbit hutches, and even houses. We’ll have water to wash off with, so come prepared to get dirty and have fun.

1:30 CHORES IS CHORES: Join us for stories and hands-on activities aimed at the younger ones and their adults. Learn about early dairy work. Carry “milk” with a two bucket yoke. Use homemade play dough to mold “butter”. There has always been work for everyone on the farm. Some of it is even fun. Gather “eggs”. Pick “apples”. Go “fishing”. Use carding combs to untangle wool. Find out how homestead chores have changed and how they’ve stayed the same.

2:45 BUILD WITH MUD 101–PIZZA OVEN: Learn how our ancestors built houses, barns and temples out of sandy clay and straw as you help us build a traditional wood-fired oven! See how easy it is to build and bake in your own backyard. Be prepared to get muddy.

4:00 SOW AND SEW: Why spend money on holiday gifts when you can make sweet smelling herbal sachets for people you love? Lavender is an easy to grow herb with many uses around the homestead from soap to tea to sleep masks. Get tips on how to grow, harvest and dry it yourself. See how to repurpose vintage linens to make pretty bags to hold it. Then, see how to slow stitch your own imaginative artwork using leftover fabric scraps and sewing embellishments. Make personal gifts or just add art to your everyday world.

Sunday 1-25-2025
9:30 THE NO MORTGAGE HOMESTEAD: Are you trapped in a loveless mortgage or an endless cycle of rent and security deposits? From temporary converted school busses and hidden garage attic apartments to multi-generational homes and intentional communities built mostly from trash and mud, we'll share our own observed experiences and tips from decades of thinking outside the bank owned box.

10:45 STENCILING: Before there were fancy printers and computers there were stencils. They were used to label crates and barrels, make signs or decorate anything you could think of: walls, floors, ceilings, carpets, even books. Make your own stencil artwork while you hear about traditional and modern uses for this useful and beautiful art. Learn where to see local examples of stenciling in homesteads of the past.

12:15 FIRE SCIENCE–HEAT WITH WOOD CLEAN CHEAP AND SAFE: Damping your chimney down for a slow fire at night can reduce its efficiency by up to 80%. If you see smoke you are looking at wasted fuel that could burn your house down. Join Uncle Mud for a demonstration of clean, efficient wood burning. Learn the do’s and don’ts of wood heat and why we does or doesn’t. Heat your water or your home or greenhouse for pennies. Find out what a Rocket Mass Heater is and how I went from $1000 some months for fuel to less than $100 per year.

1:30 CHORES IS CHORES: Join us for stories and hands-on activities aimed at the younger ones and their adults. Learn about early dairy work. Use homemade play dough to mold “butter”. There has always been work for everyone on the farm. Some of it is even fun. Gather “eggs”. Pick “apples”. Go “fishing”. Use carding combs to untangle wool. Carry “milk” with a two bucket yoke. Find out how homestead chores have changed and how they’ve stayed the same.

2:45 BUILDING CODES FOR THE OWNERBUILDER: What if I want to build my own house or barn or shed? What if I want to use alternative methods or materials? The regulations and permits can seem overly complicated. We will start with a short history and rationale behind building codes, then share examples of code problems and how to resolve them. Find out how a determined amateur builder can navigate the system with the help of code officials instead of their opposition.

4:00 SOW AND SEW: Why spend money on holiday gifts when you can make sweet smelling herbal sachets for people you love? Lavender is an easy to grow herb with many uses around the homestead from soap to tea to sleep masks. Get tips on how to grow, harvest and dry it yourself. See how to repurpose vintage linens to make pretty bags to hold it. Then, see how to slow stitch your own imaginative artwork using leftover fabric scraps and sewing embellishments. Make personal gifts or just add art to your everyday world.

A working link to the summit:

https://www.westernreservehomesteadsummit.com/