Lil Raisin Acres' 2 Year Anniversary!

Over the weekend (Friday 2/20), we celebrated our 2nd Year Anniversary here at Lil Raisin Acres! We've learned quite a lot over the past couple years, and although we've made a lot of improvements, there are still many more on the wish list! It was certainly a LOOOONG time coming! We had been dreaming of downsizing, moving away from the city, living a slower paced, more self-sufficient lifestyle with a large garden and some backyard chickens for several years before we got here. But, nothing worth having comes too easily, I guess!

Lil Raisin Acres - BEFORE and AFTER

We had been looking around at property for quite a while back in the fall of 2012, but nothing really struck us. We were looking for something around 3-5 acres in a rural-ish setting, with a modest 3-4 bedroom home on it. Either the parcel was too small, or the house was too big. Too close to town, or too far away from Brian's employer.

We'd pretty much given up for the time being, and were preparing for the holidays when my Mom forwarded me a foreclosed home listing a few days after Thanksgiving. It was in a town I had NEVER heard of, and had to Google it! A whole 2100 residents? I liked that idea! Close enough to a decent sized town for grocery shopping, yet far enough from town to not have neighbors right on top of us and 2 colleges nearby for Britt.

The acreage was exactly the right size, the home itself was modestly sized, propane heated and had a private well (off grid features always a plus!). AND, the price was ridiculously low compared to some of the other homes we'd seen! AWESOME! But, why so low?

From the lead photo I could tell it needed a new roof, and it was very dull looking, Not much curb appeal AT ALL, but knew that could be easily remedied, and a roof that size could be replaced fairly inexpensively. And then I started browsing the other photos... The people had literally taken the kitchen sink- not a stitch of plumbing to be found. They even had tried to pry the back splash tiling off the wall. Total disaster, kitchen completely stripped. Oddly enough, though, the fixtures in the bathroom all appeared to be new and in place!

Then I got to photos of the "2 Car Garage", which actually turned out to be an ugly, pieced together normal looking 1 car garage with a DIY horse barn with metal roofing attached to the back. There was livestock fencing snaking across the entire back yard as well. That would certainly be a lot of effort to remove...

My hopes had pretty much sunk by that point, but the price was exceptionally right, so I went ahead and forwarded the ad to Brian, who's employer was only 35 minutes from the property. His first reaction was a resounding NO, but he liked the price, too. That evening he came by here after work, and immediately loved the location. He brought me out over that weekend, and we made an appointment to put in a bid within the week. Thankfully, we went ahead and offered what the bank was asking, for another person tried to put in a bid a few thousand less the next day!

There were many ups and downs through-out the purchase process and at a couple points, it seemed like the deal might fall through. Honestly, it was a more stressful than cheerful time. The realtor and the branch bank were both unfamiliar with rehab loans, which caused a LOT of headache. We were pretty much on our own working out exactly what paperwork was needed to contract the builder to do the roof and kitchen remodel.

The lender took a look at the Frankenstein garage/barn and insisted we put another $2k down in escrow to assure them it would be repaired and painted along with the kitchen and roof expenses which were part of our loan. There was a problem with the well and the water test (house was vacant for a year, winterized...), which we ultimately were forced to rectify ourselves or lose the deal. We were charged $200 for standard door locks we didn't even like or want without any prior notification (we had our eye on some at Lowes that were half that price that we could have bought and provided), and the contractor left the keys on top of the electrical box in the open where anyone could have grabbed them...

When we finally closed the deal, it felt like 392478374 pounds had been lifted off our shoulders. But, there were still many trials to come! When the propane was reconnected and turned on, Britt kept insisting she smelled something funny near the kitchen, though she couldn't explain what it was. My parents stopped by and said the same thing. Come to find out, when the jerks tore the kitchen apart, the gas line leading to the stove was somehow punctured!!! Thank God I had quit smoking, and that we hadn't installed a stove yet, or this place could've been blown apart!

After that, things just got better and better! The week after we moved in, we picked up our first group of 6 chicks from Tractor Supply. You know them as Pecker, Dumpster, Nosy, Athena and Venus. Sadly, we didn't notice that the 6th chick, a second leghorn, seemed to be ill til we got her home. We also realized it had a bum leg, probably a congenital defect. She died a couple days later. Our first taste of livestock reality down on the farm here... Since then, we've gotten 10 more chickens, but have lost 3 of them (Stormy just disappeared all together, Pepper choked on a feather, and Cookie was attacked by a hawk). By accident, we ended up with a rooster, which I swore I would never have due to the crowing... We've also gotten turkeys and guineas, too!

Besides just chickens, we ended up with our late buddy Houdini AKA Deenis the goat when we were talking to folks living next door to the acreage my brother and his in-laws have their campers parked at. We were looking for a small goat, and ended up with a 200 lb whopper with an appetite for anything he wasn't supposed to be eating. The neighbors didn't want to send him to slaughter because he was just so friendly! We also picked up Baa Sheep, the shy ewe who's former owner was no longer able to care for her late last spring. We had an interesting time trying to shear her for the first time last spring. Little Doggie came to live with us last summer, too! She certainly keeps the chickens on their toes! After Deenis died last month, we got Opie and Daisy, our pygmy goats, to keep Baa company. They're very energetic!

Our first year here, I started seeds on a mammoth scale, but came to realize that without a decent tiller of our own, we'd have to scale it down. Renting a walk behind rear tine for a single day once a year doesn't cut it for 1/8th or so acres! This year, however, after inheriting an ATV, it looks like we're going to be in business! We've been looking at pull behind disc harrows, and have already received our rather large seed order! At some point, a green house is in the works, as well as perhaps some raised beds for my herbs and leafy greens.

If we can get this entire enclosed garden area up and running, we hope to start selling at the farmer's market. I plan to specialize in herbs, as there is not a single dedicated seller at either of our 2 closest markets, and I also know how to make herbal products like vinegars, seasoning blends and medicinal tea blends. We do already sell eggs here and there to friends and co-workers, although in the winter we get very few, and most of those are frozen by the time I find them......

Although we've done quite a few physical improvements, we're still lacking in curb appeal due to lacking landscaping. Not my strong suit, but we've been adding things each spring/summer. It is a little difficult when you have free ranging chickens who like to dig and scratch, but we're working on it! I feel like a cottage garden with wildflowers/perennials would be most suitable here. I'm not a huge fan of bushes. I've got several types of seeds I'm hoping will grow for me so I can get started on it!

At some point, we'd like to completely tear down the Frankenstein and build a separate steel barn and larger coop out back and a new garage that actually fits 2 cars in it! But that is a LONG way off (you know, like when we win the lotto! LOL). I'll be happy if we can just properly tie in the roof and get the entire thing done in metal, as well as replace the rickety sliding doors!

I guess the moral of this LOOOONG WINDED tale is to not give up and keep at it if you're looking to down size and be more self-sufficient. Be willing to think outside the box. See things as they could be if you put in a little elbow grease, don't just expect something to be perfect from the get-go.  Don't worry about other people's opinions/criticism of your lifestyle. There is a lot of peace to be found in voluntary simplicity. Be realistic - if you're spending all your money on a house payment itself, there is no room for other improvements or to spend on leisure activities. You might have to give something up to get something more rewarding in return, like getting rid of a second lease car payment in favor of home schooling your kids. The minute you quit pleasing others and live in a way that pleases yourself, you'll be surprised how much happier you will feel...

Have You Purchased Your Seeds Yet?

Back before I began starting my own seeds at home, I would walk into home improvement stores and big box department stores and roll my eyes at the seed displays prominently displayed before Valentine's Day. "How ridiculous! It won't be planting season for months!". Now, seed catalogs and displays are the highlight of the winter (well, besides Christmas)!

A California Wonder Sweet Pepper seedling.

It does seem awfully early to be buying seeds, especially when the daytime highs have been in the single digits, but this time next month, I'll be starting my peppers and parsley indoors! To know when to start your own plants indoors, you will want to determine which USDA Hardiness Zone you live in. You can find out by entering your Zip Code HERE. Very often the back of the seed packet will tell you how many weeks before last frost it should be started, but if not, there are MANY seed starting charts and resources available around the web. Here's an example: Zone 5 (SE Michigan)

As a kid, my Dad and Grandparents always just purchased already started plants like tomatoes and peppers that couldn't be direct seeded in the garden at our local greenhouse. While it is honestly much more convenient for the average home gardener, it's significantly more expensive if you wish to grow more than maybe 6-8 plants. You're also very limited on available varieties. If we only grew what can be found at major outlets, we'd never know that there are orange, yellow, even black tomatoes! Another concern is that the starts found at big box stores have been treated with chemicals that harm beneficial insects and pollinators.

Seeds can be expensive, depending upon where you decide to purchase and the rarity of seed, but there are low cost brands available. For example, Dollar Tree sells common varieties from like Contender Bush Beans and Little Wonder Peas for $.25 per pack, but the germination rates (how many seeds actually grow) are markedly lower compared to other brands of the same variety I've grown in the past. On the other hand, I paid $3.00 for one packet of 10 seeds of the rare "Hottest Pepper on the Planet" Trinidad Scorpion Pepper I ordered from Baker Creek Seeds. However, everything I have ever purchased from them has had excellent germination rates and grew into strong, healthy plants. Their common varieties run around $2.00/pack. Regardless, a $2.00 packet with 25 seeds is much less expensive than $3 for 4 plants!

From personal experience, I HIGHLY recommend purchasing seed through the mail from a reliable source providing open-pollinated heirloom seed. This means that once you purchase that seed once, you can save seed from your own plants and never have to purchase that same one again! But that's another discussion for another time!

Here are the two catalogs I most often purchase from. You can order online, or request a free printed catalog from their website:

Baker Creek - Purchase 90% of our seeds here each year. I believe they offer somewhere in the neighborhood of 1500 varieties, including herbs and flowers. Excellent germination, less expensive than some of the others,

Richter's Herbs - Specializes in medicinal and culinary herbs. Seeds and plant starts available. Many hard-to-find varieties, Great germination rates, but be mindful of your hardiness zone when purchasing perennials.

These are also reputable, but a little more expensive on the whole:

Seeds of Change - Certified Organic Seed
Seed Savers - Heirloom Seed
Mountain Rose Herbs - Seed as well as dried goods, medicine making and tea accessories

In a few weeks I'll post a tutorial on seed starting as I get my own going! In the meantime, get those seed orders going before the good stuff is sold out! ;)

BOOKSHELF: The Backyard Homestead

Click to view book on Amazon.com

THE BACKYARD HOMESTEAD: Produce All the Food You Need on Just a Quarter Acre

Edited By Carleen Madigan

*Eat from the garden year-round with fresh veggies and homemade preserves.
*Make omelets from eggs laid by your own chickens.
*Pick fruits and berries from your back door.




The Backyard Homestead is a good resource for beginner and intermediate level homesteaders, or those contemplating a move to the country and starting a simpler lifestyle. Within it's 367 pages is basic information concerning growing vegetables, herbs, and fruits, as well as caring for your own livestock for meat, milk, and eggs. Everything you'd need to know to eat your own homegrown food year-round!

The book opens with "The Home Vegetable Garden". Starting from planning your garden, to starting seeds, to DIY plant supports, to harvesting, and finally seed-saving and preserving, the entire life cycle of the plants are touched upon. A good basic foundation is presented, including a "Vegetables A to Z" section giving specifics for various common vegetables. The information presented is more than enough to get a new gardener headed down the right path to success.

As far as preserving, hot bath canning is touched upon briefly, with no mention of dehydration. If you're looking for books specifically concerning food preservation, I'd recommend The Dehydrator Bible: Includes over 400 Recipes for dehydration information, and Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving concerning pressure canning.

The second section, "Backyard Fruits and Nuts", gives basic information about several different types of fruits including strawberries and which to choose for your climate, choosing and caring for various berry bushes, choosing and raising grapes for wine and preserves making, and suggestions for deciding what varieties of fruit and nut trees will work best for your orchard. Proper pruning of all bushes, vines and trees is covered. There are even wine and cider making directions!

The "Easy Fragrant Herbs" section covers very basic cultivation of 32 common culinary and medicinal herbs, and although includes some tea and vinegar recipes, doesn't touch much on the medicinal applications of those herbs. I've found The Complete Book of Herbs: A Practical Guide to Growing and Using Herbs and The New Healing Herbs: The Essential Guide to More Than 125 of Nature's Most Potent Herbal Remedies to be valuable reference guides if you're looking for in-depth information about specific plants, both cultivated and wild. Rosemary Gladstar's Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner's Guide: 33 Healing Herbs to Know, Grow, and Use provides an excellent introduction and overview to beginner herbalists on how to administer various forms of treatments, as well as information on 24 common herbs. It includes 124 medicinal recipes, too!

"Homegrown Grains" was of particular interest to us. We are currently purchasing corn and hay for our animal feed. It would be nice to supplement some of that with homegrown product! We've never attempted to grow grains ourselves, other than a few stalks of corn (with little success). There is a planting chart, which will certainly come in handy. The chapter focuses on corn and wheat, and covers properly drying corn, threshing wheat, using a grinder and bread and pasta making. Many of the questions I've had regarding wheat growing were answered. Growing hops and barley for home brewed beer was a welcome surprise at the end of the chapter!

After the plants presentations came "Poultry for Meat and Eggs". It's important to select breeds suited to your purpose. Meat breeds are larger, and often produce less eggs than laying breeds. This section does a fairly good job at covering the common chicken breeds in the US, although there is no mention of climate hardiness. Raising turkeys, ducks and geese are also referenced here. Collecting and preserving eggs is thoroughly discussed, but home butchery of meat birds is left out. Collection of feathers for down is touched upon, though. There are plans included for building a small portable suburban-type chicken coop that will house 2 or 3 birds, but would recommend doing a thorough web-search before settling on a design.

"Meat and Dairy" section is what you'd expect- Goats, Sheep, Cows, Rabbits and Hogs. Interestingly enough, there were no plans presented for building a basic shelter or fencing for the animals. Breed selection for meat or milk is covered, as well as proper milking technique and safe milk handling etiquette. Making various cheeses and butter is touched upon.  If you're interested in specific cheese making recipes, Home Cheese Making: Recipes for 75 Homemade Cheeses is a great guide.

Again, home butchery is vastly under-represented, simply covering how to cut the meat and package it for freezing or for smoking after you pick it up from the slaughter house. There are plans for a simple smoke house, and recipes for sausage and jerky.  If you're looking for an in-depth guide to livestock, I'd look elsewhere. There are many very specific books available out there for the type of animal you're interested in raising. For the stouthearted, there is the Home Butchering Handbook: A Living Free Guide (Living Free Guides).

The final chapter, "Food from the Wild" lightly touches on beekeeping, foraging for wild edibles, and gathering maple syrup. Very basic information is presented. Again, I'd look for specific reference guides for these particular subjects. Especially concerning wild edibles. A good reference guide with color photos that is tailored to your specific area is the best choice. There are indeed plants out there than can make you very sick if you make an identification mistake!

In the appendix, there are several web resources given, as well as further reading suggestions (some of which I have already mentioned!) on various specific subjects. As of writing, I have not reviewed them all yet!

Over-all, I would HIGHLY recommend this book to BEGINNERS, and to intermediate gardeners looking to expand from a simple vegetable or herb garden to a larger scale, self-sufficient homestead. It's a good starting point. People who've been homesteading for a while will probably already be familiar with much of the information presented here. However, it'd be a great book to have on hand to lend should a visitor become interesting in what you're doing, too!

Have you read this book? What did you think of it? Comment below!