Joel Salatin’s recent talk for Peaceful Valley

Image from Salatin's Farm Field Day June 2011

A great recording of Joel Salatin speaking recently at Peaceful Valley in California:

http://groworganic.com/media/audio/Joel-Salatin.mp3?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=mp3&utm_campaign=joel-salatin

Tags: Joel Salatin, sustainable living

I have lots of plans for 2012 for focusing on health and nutrition. I’m not just making some random “resolutions” this year–nope. Not this year. This year I’m putting my time and money where my mouth is. Partly this is because I need this focus personally. I turn 43 at the end of the week, and I’m 10 pounds over weight. I can really feel it when I consume sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and junk food. Gone are the days when I felt like I could eat what I want and still feel good.

So as part of my “puttin’ my money where my mouth is,” I’ve enrolled in Heather’s Whole Foods Kitchen course. I did the 30 Day Vegan with her last year and loved the advice, support, recipes, and photos.

The class doesn’t begin until February 6th and with that in mind, thought I’d post about it here, in case any of you are looking to focus on health and nutrition in 2012, too.

I’ve got more in store for this year than just this online course, though. I’ve signed up to do a Holistic Health Certification through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition This is a big time and money commitment but I’m really excited. I’ve had an interest in all things food for years now but am finally ready to take it to that next, professional level.

I start the IIN program next week so I’ll be posting more on it in the weeks to come.

Tags: Beauty that Moves, Institute for Integrative Nutrition, Whole Foods Kitchen Course

Gardening Addiction: Also known as Seed Catalog Time

Someday I’ll be saving all my own seeds but even when that day finally comes, I’ll still rely on seed catalogs to find new seeds, connect with other gardeners, and learn about new products.

Right now, seed catalogs are my naughty little winter addiction. I LOVE them. I spend hours pouring over each one, though some of the electronic-only ones are getting difficult to bring to bed with me. I mark them up, circling all the things that interest me before going back and culling with costs and practicality in mind. I even caught my 12 year old today circling things in one of the catalogs. Seeds, supplies, and books–she’s watching me and catching my addiction.

I suppose this is how drug-users feel. I get excited when I see one poking out of the mail box and am torn between dropping everything and looking through it immediately or hoarding it, taking pleasure in the anticipation of looking it over.

How about you? Are you as addicted as I to seed catalogs?

Here’s some of my favorites:

Pinetree Garden Seeds–these folks rock. Great seeds, great prices for home gardeners!

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange

Seed Savers Exchange

Terroir Seeds

Nichols Garden Seeds

Bountiful Gardens

I’ve gotten to where I just buy open-pollinated, heirloom seeds so I can eventually save seed. It’s a process though. And while this is just a small list of some of my favorites, it should get you started if you are looking for good, trustworthy seeds.

Tags: nichols seeds, ordering seeds online, pinetree garden seeds, seed catalogs, seed savers exchange, southern exposure seeds, terroir seeds

Looking for Books for Christmas?

As either gifts or just good reads over the Christmas Holidays, here are two suggestions:

Just finished Coop: A Family, a Farm, and the Pursuit of One Good Egg by Michael Perry this morning. It was one of those page-turners but in a slow, steady kind of way. It didn’t leave me breathless but it did leave me crying and laughing in turns. If you are interested in homesteading, family life, or just trying to live in a simpler way, this book will appeal. I kept reading bits of it out loud to my husband, who didn’t really get the humor because they were just snippets. This is one of those books you have to read from beginning to end to really get the full message. And Coop is worth the read. A great gift idea or just a pleasure spree for a snowy, cold day.

Unlike Coop, Gene Logsdon’s The Contrary Farmer has been out for a while but I just got around to reading it. If you like Joel Salatin, you’ll like Logsdon, who isn’t afraid to tell you exactly what he thinks about the state of the world. A nice read that will teach you a few things about farming and running a homestead sanely, efficiently, and economically. There were a couple of chapters in which I was lost–mainly the one on producing grain–but that’s because these things are beyond my current experience level. But it served as a good introduction to the subject and has me looking to learn more. I think I need to see grain production in action to really get what Logsdon was talking about. So far most of my grain-viewing has been from the cab of a truck on the highway. But with Logsdon’s introduction, I’m itching to learn more.

If you are looking for fun reads for the winter break or need a couple of gift ideas for your homesteading friends, consider either of these books. They’ll be much appreciated.

Tags: Contrary Farmer, Coop, Gene Logsdon, Michael Perry

Mortgage Free?

While not strictly about homesteading, Rob Roy’s book, Mortgage Free!, should be on every homesteader’s radar. I know my life-choices would open up greatly if I had no monthly mortgage for the next 30 years. How about you?

As we are thinking about and preparing to build a structure to live in on our farm, mortgage free has taken on more of an importance than ever. But how to achieve this goal?

While I had already thought of many of Roy’s suggestions (build small, save up a nest-egg, build yourself), Roy details the many options available for mortgage free living, plus gives the reader something more . . . the benefit of all his mistakes. And the mistakes of several other individuals. This information alone makes the price of the book worth it. I like to learn from the mistakes of others so I don’t have to suffer so much. I learned a lot about what can go wrong when you try to build your own home or tackle a large project like home-building with your spouse.

We have already implemented one of Roy’s suggestions, which is to build a small, temporary shelter in which to live while building. This eliminates rent costs, which monies can then be poured into the final, home structure. We’ve drawn up plans for a 16 x 24 building that will later serve as guest quarters. We plan on having our daughter live in this structure while we build, and it will serve as the main restroom for our family and any workers on site. (The restroom will be accessible from the outside and will be much more comfortable than the little facility in our camper). In addition to a toilet, bath, and sink, we will put our washing machine, dryer, and a refrigerator in the “restroom” space. We’re thinking of it more as a “wet” space. I’ve priced all new materials at less than $2000. We’ll be using a lot of recycled stuff so we should be able to get away with building this thing for half that.

That will buy us some more time–rent free–while we figure out the final design and build the permanent house. And let us save up some cash in the meantime.

Sounds good, doesn’t it? Now if the house we are living in now (which has a big mortgage) would only sell!

Tags: rent free mortgage, Rob Roy, temporary housing structures