Alex Green

I'm not sure whether I should have started a new topic with this question, but I hated to take up too much room on the message boards.

As I've been researching, I've seen a lot of people spending lots of time and money on things like homesteading workshops (the SKIP events), books, etc.  And the SKIP program itself has been going on for several years.

My question is: how many people have inherited property?  I understand and agree with the fact that the homesteading skills are worth the trouble, but I still feel like we should know what our chances are.

After looking at the leaderboard, there are 2 people who have achieved PEP1 and 23 people who are BB60.  So my question is: how many of them have actually inherited property?  What is the success rate?  I am very interested in doing things like attending the classes, but only if "Otises" really are coming on here and looking for homesteaders.

So, in the 4 years or so since the program started, how many people have people successfully inherited property using the program?

Question:

Do different varieties of squash and tomatoes count as different species for the sake of this BB?

I grew crops in past years but didn't realize that I had to weigh them.  I also didn't take volume measurements.   Is there any way that I can get some credit toward the gardening BB?  Growing these was a lot of work, and I would hate for it to go to waste.  I might be able to do some research and approximate the weight of the produce, but it wouldn't be an exact measurement.

Can I get credit for any of this at all?  I realize that I can't get credit for things that I didn't take pictures of, but what about things like the squash?

I forgot to mention that I'm also very interested in herbal medicine, which is a homesteading skill.  I've collected a number of books on it and have started experimenting with taking different herbs.

In fact, I've started my own homesteading reference library, which I consider to be part of my homesteading effort.  It is my pride and joy.  It has information on everything from herbal medicine to gardening and seed saving to baking to emergency medicine to physical fitness to brewing drinks like beer and mead.  Building the library has been a blast, and I'm adding to it, slowly but surely.

It's not huge yet, but it's getting there!

Unfortunately, we moved after those pictures were taken.  The climate where I live now (greater New Orleans area) is so hot that I haven't had any success growing tomatoes.  It might just be too hot for them.  According to the heat index, for the past month or so, we've had a number of days that feel like 110-115 degrees.  It has just baked the tomatoes.  I haven't even had success pollinating the plants by hand, which I normally do, because the flowers are so dried out and brittle.  As far as my long-term plans go, I would really prefer to have a homestead in a cooler climate.  We'll see.

Forgot to post about the bees!

Thank you for the encouragement, everyone!  It was very reassuring.  I can't wait to get started with the SKIP program!