Welcome to my new blog.  I live with my husband and son in a house that I inherited from my parents.  My mom is still with us, but she likes warmer weather and now lives in California with my sister.  We live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, which at this time of year is very cold and snowy.  We have an acre and a half of land, and are trying to make it into a tiny homestead.

When I was a kid, my parents had chickens and goats and rabbits here, so I know having livestock here is workable.  My family’s goal is to eventually be food self-sufficient.  I don’t know that we’ll get to 100%, since things like lemons won’t grow here,  but we want to get as close to that as we can.

We moved in last January, during one of the worst winters in years, and at that point we couldn’t do a lot outside – we couldn’t even get into the yard because of all the snow.  My parents hadn’t had animals in years, except for dogs, so we wanted to add some chickens first. In early May, once the snow had mostly melted, we started work on converting an old sauna into a new chicken house.  I got baby chicks in June, and by the time they were big enough to live outside, their house was ready for them.  We currently have 11 chickens: 9 hens and 2 roosters.  When I got them I figured that the meanest rooster (if one was mean) would be destined for our dinner table, but the two I have get along really well.

Last year I also had a nice garden, not as big as I wanted but it was a start.  I ended up freezing a lot of zucchini and tomatoes for this winter, and we are still eating those.

We have really grand plans for the property, but some things won’t happen right away.  For this year, 2015, I want to expand the garden space, add some chickens, and some rabbits for meat.

My hope is that this blog will help me to share what’s going on in my world, and maybe help others on the same journey.