Canning

Carolyn presents The Barber Bunch: How to make Strawberry Jam posted at The Barber Bunch.

RC presents Create an Edible Container Garden This Spring posted at Think Your Way to Wealth.

Carolyn presents The Barber Bunch: Canning Class at Carriage Hill Metro Park posted at The Barber Bunch.

Cindy S presents 12 Vegetables You Can Grow in a Pot posted at Oh My Aching Debts, saying, “No Room for a garden? Of course, you have room! This list will give you vegetables you can grow in a pot.”

Carolyn presents The Barber Bunch: How to make Sauerkraut posted at The Barber Bunch.

Cindy S presents Seven Deadly Homemade Weedkillers Unmasked: Vinegar posted at Small Homestead, saying, “I have been trying each one of the seven deadly homemade weedkillers. Today I experimented with vinegar and you can see the results.”

Vikki Lawrence-Williams presents Preserving Asparagus by Canning posted at Survival Cooking, Gardening and Emergency Preparedness Info, saying, “Asparagus is ready to harvest, but what can be done with it? Dehydrate it (http://www.survival-cooking.com/2009/05/preserving-asparagus-by-dehydrating.html) or preserve it by canning (http://www.survival-cooking.com/2009/05/preserving-asparagus-by-canning.html).”

Gardening

Yanic Arsenault presents Our garden –Year 2 : Eggshells, the wonder trash posted at Adventures into green.

Wren Caulfield presents Save Money on Food: Grow Your Own! posted at True Adventures in Money Hacking.

Meadowwood Garden presents Growing Tomatoes posted at Meadowwood Garden, saying, “Everything you need to know to grow the best-tasting tomatoes you have ever eaten!”

Gregory E. Rouse presents Raised Bed Gardening with a Tractor Tire posted at Raised-Bed-Gardening Blog, saying, “how to build a raised bed out of an old tractor tire”

Mary@SimplyForties presents Update on my Urban “Farm” posted at SimplyForties.

Jason presents How to Build a Square Foot Garden posted at The Frugal Dad.

Julian Pollock presents The History of Shutters – From Marble and Straw Mats to Metal and Poly-Wood Slats | TheHistoryOf.net posted at The History Of – Blog, saying, “It’s a double benefit when one discovers that polywood style materials, developed to be a cost saver – also turn out to help reduce one’s carbon footprint. More households are turning to door and window shutters for protection against our increasingly unpredictable weather. So now there are eco-options using forest-saving polymers as well as sustainable wood as regulated by the FSC.”

Kristen Welch presents We Are THAT Family: Green Acres Edition posted at We Are THAT Family.

Farm Animals

Belle presents How to Pasteurize Goat Milk posted at Homesteaderbelle’s Blog.

00FF00 presents Battery Hen Welfare Trust posted at ooffoo, saying, “A member of the ooffoo community discovers how to adopt an “ex-bat” and other ways of making changes to benefit the welfare of battery hens in an interview with Jane Howarth of the Battery Hen Welfare Trust.”

Sahara Reins presents Presentation is Important When Selling Free Range Eggs posted at Fowl Visions.

Belle presents Fried Fish, a LaMancha Dairy Goat, and Homemade Goat Milk Ice Cream posted at Homesteaderbelle’s Blog.

Recipes

kara thurmond presents Grilled Blue Cheese Portobello Burgers posted at An Hour In the Kitchen, saying, “Make your own buns, mayo, mustard and ketchup for your grilled Portobello Burgers!”

Marjorie Morgan presents The Woman’s Guide to Boating and Cooking posted at GO! Girls Outdoors, saying, “a review of a wonderful ‘boatkeeping’ manual (written in the style of a 60’s or 70’s housekeeping manual) that I found at a garage sale – entertaining, amusing and very different!”

Gregory E. Rouse presents Family Meals Under $5 – Spaghetti posted at Frugal-Living-Skills Blog, saying, “Weekly grocery circulars often read “feed a family of 4 for under $10!”. I’m sure most of you have laughed at this as I did. As a result, I began to wonder what does dinner really cost for my family of 8? So I set a challenge for myself and I figured if I kept it under $5, I was doing good”

Belle presents How to make Fried Zucchini – with pictures posted at Homesteaderbelle’s Blog.

Gardening

Sandy Wong presents Guidelines and Basic Tips of Drilling Drainage Hole on Garden Container | Gardening on Cloud 9 posted at Gardening on Cloud 9, saying, “We know that good drainage is the key to healthy plants, but the containers that we find most attractive are often the ones without drainage holes. But we can drill the drainage holes by ourselves, and it is much easier than what most of us would expect. All we need is an electric drill and steady hands. And here, let me show you how to drill holes on our containers.”

The Austerity Kitchen presents Mushrooms: The Poor Man’s Meat posted at The Austerity Kitchen.

Mother Hen presents Garden Update posted at Mother Hen.

Stan Wrobel presents Rhubarb « Cottage and Yard posted at Cottage and Yard, saying, “If your going to plant something why not make it a delicious perennial vegetable that you can eat over ice cream or pancakes.”

The Family presents Planting tomatoes posted at Once Upon a Family, saying, “Get your tomatoes off to a good start”

Rani presents Apple Dapple Cake posted at Indoor Garden Musings.

Brian presents Super Sturdy Trellis posted at Meadowwood Garden, saying, “Need support? The Super Sturdy Trellis is inexpensive, easy to make and a hurricane couldn’t knock it down! Perfect for pole beans, peas, melons, cucumbers etc. Visit us to learn how to make yours!”

Renee V. Rouse presents Family Meals for Under $5 May 1st posted at Frugal-Living-Skills Blog, saying, “…Weekly grocery circulars often read “feed a family of 4 for under $10!”. I’m sure most of you have laughed at this as I did. As a result, I began to wonder what does dinner really cost for my family of 8? I figured if I kept it under $5, I was doing good…”

00FF00 presents Wildlife in your Garden posted at ooffoo, saying, “A member of the ooffoo community presents nine top tips on managing as well as encouraging natural wildlife in your garden.”

Miscellaneous

Chris presents Dealing with unwelcome guests in your house (part 2) posted at Home I Own, saying, “The rest of my article about dealing with spiders”

Emma presents What is your child eating? posted at Baby-Log.

Sahara Reins presents Things to Consider When Buying Humming bird Feeders posted at Fowl Visions.

Sustainable living

Kristen Welch presents We Are THAT Family: Shades of Green posted at We Are THAT Family.

Flea presents Be A Survivor: …I Will CRUSH You… posted at Be A Survivor.

Heather Levin presents Natural Ant Control posted at The Greenest Dollar, saying, “Don’t put chemicals down to get rid of summer ants. Try these natural home remedies instead!”

Preserving

Carolyn presents The Barber Bunch: How to Dry Tomatoes posted at The Barber Bunch.

Vikki Lawrence-Williams presents Preserving Rhubarb from the Garden posted at Survival Cooking, Gardening and Emergency Preparedness Info, saying, “Rhubarb isn’t just for pies and preserves. Dehydrate it, then this winter, sprinkle it in your oatmeal! http://www.survival-cooking.com/2009/05/preserving-rhubarb-from-garden.html”

The Smarter Wallet presents Family Budget For Frugal Living: Living Cheap Can Be Fun, Too! posted at The Smarter Wallet, saying, “Thanks!”

Recipes

00FF00 presents Top 10 Vegetarian Soups posted at ooffoo, saying, “A member of the ooffoo community presents ten scrumptious veggie soup recipes to take you through the year, from summer watercress to winter minestrone.”

The Austerity Kitchen presents Fried Elderberry Blossoms posted at The Austerity Kitchen.

Heather Levin presents Easy Frugal Bread Recipe posted at The Greenest Dollar, saying, “This no-knead bread recipe is super easy and it’s made in a Dutch Oven. Lots of pictures for each step!”

Sahara Reins presents How to Make Hard Boiled Eggs posted at Fowl Visions.

jenafer presents How To: Making Mozzarella Cheese posted at Cage Free Monkeys.

Recycling

Yanic Arsenault presents Rethinking recycling – When you move, donate goods and share resources! posted at Adventures into green.

Brian presents When Good Frugality Goes Bad posted at Meadowwood Garden, saying, “The story of a man, a truck, a dog, some glass, and good intentions…”

MomToCherubs presents It’s Berry Pickin’ Time posted at Simply Beck’s Bounty.

2 Pennies Earned presents Frugal Tips for the Home Cook posted at Two Pennies Earned, saying, “I’d like to share some tips I’ve been using lately as I’m cooking for myself more, eating out less, and trying hard to not throw anything away.”

Sara presents Polliwogs and Doodles, unschooling, hands on learning, natural parenting, homeschooling, nutrition, gardening, baking, frugal living, foraging posted at Polliwogs and Doodles, saying, “Easy tutorial for making diapers out of recycled clothing!”

presents Cat Urine Smell Remover Recipe posted at Home Life Weekly, saying, “It can be difficult to remove cat urine smell from furnishings as the cat urine odor tends to linger, well instead of buying expensive odour removers, this recipe can be used to remove the odor of other pets as well.”

Sustainable Living

Joshua presents Tips for Learning during Summertime posted at Family and Parenting, saying, “Even though it is summertime, it is a good idea to keep your child’s mind active.”

Clea Danaan presents Happiness is Living the Farm Life in the Suburbs posted at Clea Danaan’s Intuitive Gardening Blog.

Pinyo presents Save Money and Benefit with Homemade Products posted at Moolanomy, saying, “Learn how to make your own homemade products is fun and good for you and the environment. Here are some examples to help you get started today.”

Nancy Miller presents Top 100 Blogs for DIY Home Improvement posted at Construction Management Degrees.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of homesteading using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: carnival of homesteading, blog carnival.

The carnival is also looking for hosts for future editions.  If you would like to host the carnival, just send me an email or leave a comment on this post.

Editor’s Picks

Neighbor Nancy presents The Backyard Flock: You Can Build a Brooder posted at Recession Depression Therapy, saying, “Even the super beginner can build this well designed, easy-to-clean brooder to keep your new chicks healthy, warm and safe. Follow the Backyard Flock series for more beginner chicken keeping advice.”

Eric Keith presents Sucker Your Tomatoes for Increased Yields and Disease Resistance posted at Farm and Field Survivalist.

Brian presents Super Sturdy Trellis | Meadowwood Garden posted at Meadowwood Garden, saying, “This trellis how-to article might come in handy for your readers since gardening season is about to get into full swing! It explains one method of building a multi-use trellis that can be used for beans, peas, melons, tomatoes, and much much more!”

ChristineMM presents How to Make a $10 Raised Garden Bed Tutorial by ChristineMM posted at The Thinking Mother, saying, “ChristineMM of The Thinking Mother shares a photo tutorial on how to build a raised garden bed for $10.”

Heather Levin presents How To Make Your Own Deodorant posted at The Greenest Dollar, saying, “Learn several different recipes for making healthy, eco friendly deodorant at home.”

I’m sure that you will enjoy the rest of these articles.  I enjoyed every one of them and learned a lot.  Be sure to check them out as well.

Farm Animals

Elizabeth Enslin presents Sonnet for a Poultry Farmer posted at Yips and Howls, saying, “Don’t know if poetry is appropriate, but this sonnet I wrote for National Poetry Writing Month is about do-it-yourself meat-raising.”

Mike Lawson presents Raising Turkeys for Fun and Profit: Basic Facts and Terminology posted at The Chicken Coop.

Gardening

Belle presents This Year’s Garden so far……….. posted at Homesteaderbelle’s Blog.

Clair Schwan presents Cold Climate Gardening – how we do it here in Wyoming posted at Vegetable Gardening and Greenhouses, saying, “With the winter fading fast, perhaps it’s time to consider what vegetables we might grow and harvest during the upcoming winter. That’s right, we can grow and harvest vegetables in the winter months. Here’s how we do it in Wyoming.”

Miscellaneous

Credit Shout presents Lowes Credit Card Review posted at CreditShout, saying, “If your thinking about doing a lot of home improvement this spring and summer, you may be heading to Lowes. We have reviewed the Lowes credit card.”

Ralph Sparkson presents Why I Love My Dog posted at Best Funny Dog Pictures, saying, “We got another dog about two years ago. It had been over ten years since our last dog, who died just before our daughter was born. With our new dog, we were lucky because our daughter has a small neighborhood business of caring for pets and that is how we found the dog we now love so much.”

Lindsay presents Home Brewing to Save Money (and have fun) posted at Off the Urban Grid.

Silicon Valley Blogger presents YNAB (You Need A Budget) Personal Budget Software Is 10% Off posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “Budgeting is a big part of maintaining a home and managing household finances. We present a review of a great budgeting tool.”

The Smarter Wallet presents Control Household Debt With 5 Smart Saving Strategies and Budgeting Ideas posted at The Smarter Wallet, saying, “Thanks!”

Savings Toolbox presents How to Get the Best Mortgage in Today’s Market posted at Savings Toolbox.

Leave Debt Behind presents Quick and Easy Ways Your Teen Can Make Money posted at Leave Debt Behind.

Margaret Garcia presents 100 Best Blogs for Living Healthy on a Budget posted at Surgical Technician Schools.

Recipes

Rani presents Super Potato Salad posted at Indoor Garden Musings, saying, “Need an easy spring recipe?”

Michael Medeiros presents HOME STYLE BBQ SAUCE | Barbecue Recipes posted at Barbecue Recipes, saying, “Summer barbecue is just around the bend. This basic home style BBq Sauce is easily made with items from the cupboard.”

Recycling

Aparna presents Uses of hair clippings-Best out of Waste posted at Beauty and Personality Grooming, saying, “What do you do of those hair clippings after you cut your hair?”

Sustainable Living

Jacob Duchaine presents Being a Man posted at Blogging Guy

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of homesteading using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: carnival of homesteading, blog carnival.

Guard Goat

Calling for reinforcements

Watch Out Dog!

Standing Guard

A United Front

Ok, Girls now what do we do?

Hmmm, the enemy is being held captive

I have a plan!

Look it's working! Pretend to be nice!

And then GET HIM

No one was hurt during the filming of this incident. Dog, goats and all settled it peacefully with the dog in the house and the goats ruling the yard.

If you read this bill carefully you will see that the definition of a “Food Production Facility” is ” any farm, ranch, orchard, vineyard, aquaculture facility or confined animal feeding operation.”

Now that you have been labeled a Food Production Facility, what does that mean?

• It gives the authorities the right to enter your farm, homestead or ranch at any time without a warrant to inspect.
• It will require you to have a food safety plan showing how you are going to insure the safety of the produce.
• It requires you  to track each animal and all plants.
• It will require you to keep records regarding the feed, fertilizer, hygiene, water etc to make sure that your animals and plants are healthy.

On the surface, this is not necessarily a bad thing.  We all want to prevent another tragedy like the recent one with peanuts.  However, the government doesn’t always work the way it should.  The recent raid on an Ohio family who were running an organic food coop is a good example of this.  This family was raided and held captive for 6 hours.

There is no exclusion in this bill for small farmers or homesteaders or even the family garden.  There is no exclusion for grass fed beef.  If you have a herd of goats or a few pigs and you raise them organically without commercial feeds and medications, you might find them confiscated and yourself in a whole lot of trouble for animal cruelty.

Because we plan to have a garden to feed ourselves and our extended family, we will certainly be considered a food production facility.  If you have a few fruit trees and give the excess fruit to your neighbors, you would be a food production facility.  If you have cows or goats or pigs, you would be one as well.

I had hopes of selling excess vegetables at the farmer’s market.  Will selling fresh fruit and vegetables now have to move to the black market?  Will you be able to go to a farmer’s market and buy anything?  Will you be able to buy your neighbor’s fresh eggs?

This bill is currently in the Agriculture committee.  If you have concerns about it, please call or write the representatives on the Ag committee.  Let them know what your concerns are and that you oppose this bill as it is written.

Morning Snow

A major snowfall has swept over the east coast.  It’s caused travel problems and power outages from the deep South to Northern New England.  It is not too bad here on our small homestead.  We only got about 4 inches of snow.  Just enough to be pretty without having to worry about it lasting too terribly long.  It’s seems appropriate to call this the   the Snowfall  Edition of Carnival of Homesteading.

KCLau presents Money Tips Group Writing Project posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “Calling out to contributors for articles on personal finance for my new e-book.”

Brian McKay presents Health Savings Account as a Retirement Account? posted at MonitorBankRates.com, saying, “Are you maxing out your 401K and IRA contributions every year and want a way to save more for retirement using a pretax method? Another way of stashing away money pretax for your retirement is using a health savings account (HSA).”

Buck Weber presents One Way To Get The Most Out of Your Chicken posted at THE BUCK LIST.

Patricia Turner presents The Nuts and Bolts of the Obama Bailout posted at Construction Management Degrees.

MomToCherubs presents We Aspire To Grow … posted at Simply Beck’s Bounty, saying, “”intend to plant” lists for this seasons food gardening”

KCLau presents How to Refinance your Home Loans Smartly posted at KCLau’s Money Tips, saying, “Lists several reasons why home owners would benefit from switching their loans to a new loan with lower interest rates”

Canning

Vince Scordo presents How To: Canning Tomatoes posted at Vince Scordo.

Farm Animals

Sahara Reins presents Why, Oh Why, Do I Raise Chickens? posted at Fowl Visions.

Gardening

Nancy Muller presents A Ton of Garden, A Tiny Space;Strawberries for the Apartment Dweller or Suburbanite « Recession Depression Therapy posted at Recession Depression Therapy, saying, “A little gardening advice for the gardener in tight quarters with big dreams of Strawberries”

Cindy S presents Urban or Rural Homesteading: Plan Vegetable Garden Now posted at Oh My Aching Debts, saying, “Now is the time to start planning your garden. A good plan will insure that you have the vegetables you need for the season.”

Miscellaneous

Belle presents Earth Hour – Turn out your lights for one hour posted at Homesteaderbelle’s Blog.

Robert Hazlewood presents How To Get Started Finding Legit Survey For Money Websites posted at Ways to Survive Life, saying, “Find legit work at home jobs taking surveys, completing offers and company registrations”

presents Printable Mothers Day Cards posted at Home Life Weekly, saying, “Make your own printable Mothers Day cards. Its really quick and easy all you need to do is download the free Mothers Day Card design of you choice then print and fold.”

Raily Arena presents DIY Home Selling Tips: No Need for Realtors Guaranteed posted at How to Sell Your Own Home.

Mark Smith presents Close Your Home Sale Without Trouble – Vox posted at how to sell your own home’s blog.

Brian McKay presents Savings Account posted at MonitorBankRates.com, saying, “Finding a decent rate on a savings account isn’t an easy thing to do these days. Savings account rates have been decreasing for over a year now, falling as fast as the economy”

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Borrow, Barter, Buy Used: Espousing The Frugal Lifestyle posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “Thanks!”

The Smarter Wallet presents Quality Cookware To Save You Time and Energy posted at The Smarter Wallet, saying, “Thanks!”

Recipes

Rani presents Brownies posted at Indoor Garden Musings, saying, “Enjoy my favorite recipe for Brownies.”

Kathryn presents Simple Trail Mix Recipes posted at Kathryn Vercillo on HubPages, saying, “Easy ways to make trail mix with all kinds of different ingredients.”

Recycling

Condo Blues presents How to Make a T Shirt Quilt posted at Condo Blues, saying, “When life gives you too many t-shirts – make a quilt!”

Sustainable Living

travelcat4 presents GreenPrint – Helping To Save Printer Paper posted at Latest Inventions.

Joe Manausa presents A Small But Significant Shift In The Housing Market posted at Really Better Real Estate, saying, “One key trend to pay attention to in any local real estate market is the movement of the sales success trend. What this measures is the total number of home sold divided by the total of homes listed (put on the market) during the same period of time.”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of homesteading using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

New Baby Goat kids

Baby Goat

Just for the record, the baby goats NEVER went to the bathroom in the house.  Goats are incredibly clean and easy to house train if you choose to do that.  She slept in a dog crate and went outside as soon as she came out and again after eating.

Randy wasn’t thrilled about it but acknowledged that it was MUCH too cold to leave them outside at 6 degrees.  Kisses only weighed about 2 lbs.