Re' Burton

I have two of those 'nylon' muffin tin things in the shape of pine trees. Since I don't want to use it for baking (I read that is not wise) I crack one whole egg into each of the tree molds and freeze them on a cookie sheet. When frozen, I pop them out into a container or zip freezer bag and freeze them until I need them.  My hens are getting old so I don't force them to lay over the winter anymore (lights and heat) and just stock the freezer in summer.  I also blend a dozen up and freeze that for scrambled eggs.  I have dehydrated a few dozen as well but find I don't use the dried eggs up, although I did just add some to a batch of dehydrated meals in a jar for a power outage or camp trip.  Very handy to have around.

Voles and moles and mice love my raised beds and poly tunnels.  I woke up a family of mice when watering the Greenstalk.  They mostly enjoy the strawberry tray and avoid the herbs. I have to drown them out weekly, but they return regardless.

I read that voles hate having bulbs in the bed they want to infiltrate so I planted and left onions, beets, chives etc. and they have only occupied areas where the bulbs are not.  Next, I either stick a water hose in their hole and fill the bed, searching for the other entrances, and hopefully drowning remaining rodents, or I find and relocate some yard snakes into those holes and leave them to it.  Unfortunately the snakes then overwinter in my beds and may not be out by spring planting, but I try to work around them.  I have also noticed massive ant colonies move in once the snakes and voles leave, which I have not had too much trouble with, but drowning and bulbs seem to work best for me to remove voles and moles from raise garden beds.  In the lawn areas, once they daylight, my dogs and cats handle it very quickly.

As I get older, I find that having better quality of fewer foods works best for me.  Kind of like many of us are ditching synthetic clothes for cottons and wool, which are expensive but better for our health.  I have 2 poly tunnels plus a young orchard and a few outdoor planters which, in combination grow an amazing amount of food while I'm at my job, but only from May to September, so I have now started to 'eat seasonally' again.  We can and freeze and dehydrate a lot.  I've been a "prepper" since I worked/lived thru the Loma Prieta quake in 1989.

I've swapped out crap "food" for healthier options.  I'm not into sweets, but give me chips!  So I joined "Thrive Market", an online shop and we now eat healthier versions of chips, crackers, even organic wine when it is available.  I stopped stocking up on stuff to make cookies and cakes, to my son's dismay, but he works in a bakery and snacks all day anyway.  I am saving a lot of money with this change.  They have crazy good sales at Thrive Market, as well, which is the only time I actually buy stuff.

I have been a member of Azure Standard for a few years now, and find that another addiction, cheese, is covered as well.  The organic, raw cheese is all we eat now.  We buy the 5 lb blocks every couple of months and shred most of it, enjoying it on all things requiring cheese.  You won't believe how good raw organic cheese is.... I'm now a cheese snob.  I freeze about half of each block of cheese, using it up just in time for the next order.

I bought a sourdough starter from Azure as well, and make bread and crackers when I can, but our grocery store now sells "Naked" brand breads and buns so that is my go-to.  Very clean bread, and all we eat besides sour dough.  

I do not drink 'city water' without running it through my Berkey filter.  Yes, I am a water snob. I take it with me in canning jars or recycled wine bottles or stainless steel bottles.  I drink a lot of water.  I also have some "LMNT" electrolyte packets in my bag to add to water when I get overheated or feel dehydrated.  I usually add something like a sprig of rosemary or mint or something when I refill after lunch, for a change and medicinal benefit. Easy adds are a newer habit for me.

I cannot start a day without coffee, thus I purchase shade grown organic coffee- pricey but amazingly easier on my 62 yo stomach.  I used to just add honey or stevia but found that Albertsons grocery (Safeway companies) sells organic "sweet cream" and vanilla creamer, so instead of making that ourselves, we simplified and buy those when available. I need convenience items sometimes.

As far as dietary changes go, I am landlocked in Northcentral Wyoming but I am a seafood addict.  I joined "Wild Alaskan Company" for scheduled fish deliveries which has worked out well for me.  My son will live with me til the end, as he is special needs and does not drive or thrive on his own, so what would have lasted two months now does not.  Luckily he loves all food so we grow our veggies and eat salmon or cod at least twice each week.  We found that our air frier is the all time greatest, fastest, cheapest thing to use for cooking all meat, so we treat it like the asset that it is.  A little olive oil is all it takes, no greasy ick, and it does not heat up the house.  We just ordered a case of salmon from Azure to compare. Same price for twice volume.

We use fancy olive oil and organic butter and only our own or organic seasonings and herbs.   I learned to do that from a 105 year old engineer that I sat with at a conference once.  He carried a stick of butter and a container of Redmonds real salt in his pants pocket, plus he grazed all day on peanut M&Ms that he kept in his shirt pocket.  

Basically, I hunt for elk and deer every few years, buy local grass-fed beef annually, I get cases of chicken from the Hutterites nearby, I purchase a hog or lamb from the 4H kids each year - so local and not feed-lot stressed meat, and get the fish from Alaska.  I grow about 90% of my veggies and fruit, put up a lot of it for winter, and add turmeric and Redmonds to everything I eat.  I also use collagen powder for arthritis, make a million tinctures or buy the ones I cannot make from Nicole Apelian or the Homegrown Herbalist, (mostly the mushroom ones) and never ever ever go to doctors or dentists.  I have found that simplifying the menu with better quality works great for us.  Simple spice changes on the same old food creates a whole new meal, so no need to dine out or travel anymore.  Sorry so long. Live long and prosper!!

My entire neighborhood, except me, flood irrigates with water coming thru ag land. I have the smallest lot at 1/2 acre. They also pay Nitro green to spray their lawns seasonally, mow or have their lawns mowed way too short, and water constantly. I'm the lowest elevation and their waste water comes to me along the road at the front of my property. I have had a neighbor with a tractor come and scrape down the road along my property to create a grass curb and planted some mini shrubs out there to intercept. I eat my "lawn" and explained that at many ditch meetings...to no avail. I understand how hard it is to get neighbors to learn. But anyway. I have since allowed my edibles to thrive at the back of the property and rarely harvest the front although a close neighbor blames me for birds existing due to my front yard berries.  Lol  As the old saying goes, "When the student is ready, the teacher appears".

I love clothes pins but was the recipient of about 200 large bankers clips, which are a chip eater's best friend. I also use the bankers clips to hold up the plastic on my poly tunnels, a quick fix to floppy chicken wire, hold the shade cloth in place on cow panel arches, and there is enough room to prop up vines inside them while holding a trellis. The last batch of clothes pins that I purchased are terrible plastic ones that cannot hold thick things on the clothes line. I will seek out old-timey wood ones again.

I started making sourdough things in April, without an electric bread machine.
I've learned that anything that comes out of the oven, pretty or not, is edible and tasty, regardless of what others think.
From crackers to sandwich bread it all depends on environmental factors for rising or bake time, and if there isn't that time to perfect the creation, eat it anyway.
I also learned my latest rescue dog is a bread lover so all creations need to be kept out of reach. Lol

I like to roast the root veggies or fry them in butter while i sear the meat. I leave out potatoes and add parsnips when I have them. It adds a touch of a different type of sweetness.  I love to add red wine as well and whatever else I have on hand. I usually add shredded kale or cabbage for a dark green veg and everything I make starts with having a sprinke of black pepper and turmeric while cooking. I count on it for some health bennies as well. If I make a big roast and have leftover meat, the next day I do a stew with it. I also like to top some sour dough bread with a scoop of stew and it's gravy. Now I'm hungry. Enjoy!

Joylynn, I feel that watery pain!

I am swamped as well, so thank you for your post!  I like your plans and everyone's ideas!  
I bought this half-acre place in the Fall of 2013 and have spent thousands of dollars on bringing in belly-dump truckloads of fill and sand and soil. The first Spring my top soil literally left the yard via overland flow from my neighbor's pond-building exploits which apparently was a 'favor' to a previous owner who wanted some flood irrigation water.  The whole east side mud sill of my house is gone from rot, so I know it may have gotten well flooded many times. I still get water flowing onto the property but have set railroad ties and brought up the elevation again, however it doesn't stop the water from coming up from below.  I use raised beds everywhere and have success planting early and covering.  Also, I had to have 7 huge cottonwood and elm trees removed due to disease so now I have created a monster, as nothing drinks as much as trees.  My wooden raised beds rot fast so last year I started using metal raised beds to slowly replace the wood ones, and I also hope to buy the very tall ones which may wick more water from below.  I use old horse water troughs with bottoms in them for plants that cannot get that much water. These are filled with old logs first then compost and some worms. Also, I am taking cuttings of my elderberries and stabbing them into the swampy perimeter on the north and east sides of the property where the water comes from. For some reason they like the swampy side here.  My chickens will enjoy the extra berries.  Also, since I have a ridiculous amount of seeds in storage, I will be attempting to get perennial flowers and herbs to 'take' among the elders.  I have found that leaving my 'lawn' in natural, edible plants/weeds, I am eating sorrel, clover and dandelions, sheep's foot and plantain very early in the growing season and the water doesn't phase them. My goal is to plant the crap out of the perimeter fences and also to create thickly planted islands as someone else mentioned.  The spaces where we walk will just keep getting wood chips which are becoming a nice mulch which will get dug out and used around plants before getting replaced every few years.  For the chickens, whose coop run is under about 8 inches of water until the ground thaws, I created board walks and climbing things for breaks from the mud in spring.  I usually gather most of the floating worms and toss in the raised beds when I have time. This year, a business that lies north about 1/2 acre away has removed all the trees and scrub along that border to install tall chain link around their facility.  I foresee a change in flow which may be worse, but we shall see. Benefit is I don't ever have to water my 'lawns' and last year I only had to water 1 greenhouse, but the ants and voles and moles make use of all of the beds until the heat starts up, the ground thaws, and in a snap the 'drain is opened' and we get back to mud. I think that hauling in wood chips and compost and creating more of Joel Salatin's  "carbonaceous diaper" for the yards  will be next here, since I cannot seem to make enough compost any other way.  I look forward to seeing what your place looks like once it is all planted out!  Thank you for letting us follow your progress!

Hi Jonah!  Great first post!  

At our farm store, Shiptons Big R, I buy three different leather gloves:  Buffalo hide, elk hide and cow hide.  I use the buffalo for cutting back spiky stuff, elk for everyday work-they live in the pickup, and cow hide for the wood splitter work.  The brand is Kinco.  However, I did just find these gloves there: (photo attached so I hope you see it)
Description
Golden Stag
SKU2771127
EID551-MED
Brand Golden Stag
Welcome to our collection of Golden Stag long cuff rose gloves with a synthetic leather palm, perfect for all rose gardening enthusiasts. These gloves are designed to provide you with the ultimate hand protection while adding a touch of style to your gardening attire. Say goodbye to scratches and thorns with these functional and fashionable rose gloves.