JuJu The Donkey + Beep Beep The Baby Chicken= No Longer Enemies

Remember the attack, when JuJu tha' donkey felt strong murderous instincts against the baby chicken Beep Beep?

No longer a problem. :)

Xoxoxo

The Pecking Order, Literally

It's like highschool all over again in my barnyard. I started out with one Rooster (the rhode island red) and one hen (golden comet I named Honey Pie)... Red and Honey Pie were in total bliss, always bathing in dirt, basking in the sunlight together, sticking together like those glued by the squeeze tube of love.
And then.... the other hens came, and the hardcore pecking, squawking, fighting and bitching exploded. At no instigation of the Red Rooster, this was between the women - and Honey Pie was not going to lose her place as top hen, even if she had originally earned it by being the only one around.

Pictured above is Honey Pie (#1 in the pecking order), I now have one other hen who looks similar to her (see in the background of the pic) - I call that one Skinny Minnie cause she has a long skinny neck. Skinny Minnie by some twisted racist default got accepted right away just cause of her color/breed similarity to Honey Pie - even the donkey didn't bother her because she was familiar looking.

So even though Skinny Minnie turns out to be somewhat of a loner herself, she never gets picked on, she always goes to the coop at night, she gives up the sex to the rooster, and fits in fine with all the hens. This is why I consider Minnie #2 in the pecking order.

The creamy tan colored hen pictured above is Mrs. Butterworth. She is in the middle of the pecking order, with her friend Margarine (who is tan and white feathered, and can be seen in the very top pic with all the chickens together). Mrs. Butterworth and Margarine are both in the middle because they equally stand their ground and peck back, yet also allow themselves to be pecked on and pushed around by Honey Pie. Margarine is more aggressive to those lower then her on the pecking order (since she can only fight so much to those higher)- and for this reason it makes it so Mrs. Butterworth is #3 and Margarine is #4 (she spends too much extra time seeking out the weaker, which takes away from Rooster time).

And then below pictured is Whitie (for lack of a better name)....

she is kind of a dull personality. So unassertive & so barely there in her energetic presence that she is more of a sheep or chicken droid who has no real place - she can fluctuate between #2 to something lower, but mostly has her loyalty to the rooster and doesn't concern over the other hens. She knows were the fertilization is at! She is still #5 in the pecking order, cause she lacks importance to... well... anything around but me.

Second to last on the pecking order (#6) is Beep Beep, the baby chick (see pic below)! Everyone except the rooster picks on her, even the donkey! She is always spending her time running away from everyone or finding a lil' nook to herself to scratch in, all alone. In Beep Beep's mind, she don't even care 'bout all them bitches running around acting all plump and egg layin' --- to Beep Beep I am her mommy and best friend and she follows me all around instead.

LAST in the pecking order(#7)....... is of course my most magnificent, beautiful and stunning hen! Lady Gray. They tear her feathers out, she is never allowed with the group, they are cruel to her and treat her like shit - she refuses to even go into the coop with them at night and has taken up with JuJu the Donkey who doesn't seem to mind letting her sleep perched in her stall. She never initiates an attack on anyone else, including tiny Beep Beep - she avoids everyone at all costs except for myself and the donkey. She has to be fed separately then the rest to get a fair share. It breaks my heart to watch.

Gawd....

do they not remind you of humans? We peck each other into order, we too are still animals.

XOxoxoox

I've Been Re-Wilding At Firefly

Guess where I have been since Thursday??? Re-Wilding classes at the annual FIREFLY!Firefly is a local Western North Carolina 'gathering' of people (all ages) who want to learn how to do amazing re-wilding, primitive, homesteading, crafting & earth easy skillz --- it consisted of 4 really intense days of classes taught by lovable teachers who don't just know the skillz but live them every moment of their lives.
I arrived at Camp Pinnacle wednesday night for registration, where i was given a canvas name tag and a little wooden bead on hemp string bracelet to show I was now part of the re-wilding tribe. I was then handed a map, with a LONG list of classes to choose from--- so many classes that it was literally agonizing trying to decide....

Classes available were an expansion on primitive ways of life, and survival knowledge... wild mushroom, tree & plant walks, building rafts, tanning animal hides, carving wooden spoons and bowls, basket weaving, slaughtering chickens & goats, trapping animals, debris shelter & friction fire making, flint knapping, sewing with buckskin, making bows and arrows, DIY Oil lamps, pottery (should I really go on?... you can see the list here cause you will want to go next year! )

Before any classes began, there was a short & sweet orientation where a man walked out to start a ceremonial fire with a bow drill, using friction (see pic above) - I seriously thought we'd be there for 30 mins waiting for the fire to start but it could not have been more then 5 minutes that he started a whole bonfire, using just friction & his breath into the smouldering kindling. It was f-en incredible!

CLASSES/STUFF I LEARNED::::::

The first class I attended was spoon carving - a technique that was not easy, but also was shockingly simple. The teacher (Barron, see guy in jumpsuit above) started with just a simple small piece of fresh cut green wood and a hatchet to split it into a thinner piece to begin carving with.

We used tools he had handcrafted himself & our personal knives (cause at this event everyone carries a KNiFe!!) Starting buy gouging out the spoon center, then carving around it....

this is my spoon below, almost finished. Chunky, but oh my gawd I was sooooo proud & love it.

I was really into learning how to tan animal skins, so that I can use them to make clothing and other long lasting items...so I took a BARK TANNING class with Todd (the rad guy who can start fast friction fires!)

This class was also simple, chemical free yet a hard working process - I learned how to use hemlock tree bark & red oak to tan animal hides--- the bark has to be pounded into a powder and then either boiled down or soaked in water. He said if the water is cold sometimes with Hemlock it brings out the astringent tannins instead of the bitter ones, and FOR realZ he had everyone in the class taste the tannins so they could know the difference because the bitter ones work better! I totally only sniffed it... ;)

People not only tasted the tannins he had in jars, but they even tasted the tannins holding the animals skin in the bucket - the tannins are so strong, they kill everything (germs, foot fungus) - the color from the bark made a soothing shade of red on the leather...

He showed us animal skins tanned with and without the fur on too - the smaller critters needed a stronger quicker solution, while the bigger ones, start out with weaker solutions. The coolest part was it's REALLY hard to fuck up this process, the part that is most likely to get messed up is during the skinning and scrapping that is done before the tanning.

A favorite class of mine (mainly cause i was totally loved by my teacher Laura) was the Pine Needle Baskets!!! I have been waiting to learn how to weaves a nice tight basket for along time- and this method was a fairly easy coiling method, using long pine needles. You can use other gathered materials too (I am hoping to make some out of grass, devil's vine, and kudzu).

Using just hemp twine and a needle, we were taught to coil & weave the basket together, in a patterns of circles.

Later on during the night, when I went to decorate my basket with beads, Laura was nice enough to show me how to make OLIVE OIL LAMPS (which can also be done with animal fat and other slow burning oils). Simply by filling a glass or ceramic jar/container with the oil, then taking a wire, coiling it around a nail, then pull the nail out and shove in a cotton wick. Make the large wire circle at the bottom and handle at the top to make it easy to pull out and stand up...

Have you eva' heard of Brain Tanning Animal Hides? A process different from bark tanning, but brain tanning makes the leather so buttery soft (without using any chems) it's hard to believe --- I took a class on how to Sew With Buckskin that had been brain tanned!

Not using needle and thread, but using cordage made from the skin itself and an awl to poke the holes to lace it through - following the contours of the animals natural curves to decide it's best use (AKA does it make a good shirt, skirt, top, or purse). Parts of the hide are stronger then other, like the neck, spine and bottom - and the outfits need to be made with symmetry in order for them not to get out of shape only on one side.

I am still working on my project, but it's going to be a fringe skirt (shown below) and a bikini top(not shown)! wooo!

OTHER ENTERTAINMENT:::::::::::::

FireFly was at a place called camp pinnacle, that had been a summer camp in Hendersonville, NC for the last 80 years. There was a beautiful and warm 17 acre lake to swim, canoe, kayak, dive into- and for some designated areas to even skinny dip in!
At night there were 3 fires going, with drumming, hoola hooping (fire on the hoola hoops!), dancing, singing, and even some fiddle playin'!

Watching the people go absolutely tribal and bazzzurk around the fire made me feel like i was Britney Spears on the side lines of something really different then myself. I stayed an observer, but one who could hardly stop looking.Other types of evening activities consisted of primitive potluck & cookoff, barter fair, and my very favorite the "trade blanket"! No money allowed at the trade blanket, everyone who had something to trade sat in a circle, one by one placing what they wanted to trade on the blanket in the center. Each person had a chance to offer a trade or refuse, some people offered stuff like herbs, mead, massages, fudge, juggling lessons, animal furs, animals antlers, handmade jewelry, feathered earrings, drums, books, clothes....

Firefly runs on a sliding scale ($$$) for classes, and you can go for the entire event or just for a day... It was totally worth every moment, every penny, and every missed wink of sleep (and even the long drive which was difficult for me)!

I highly recommend this event to anyone interested in learning how to really live in union with nature, our natural biology, and our deep need to be true survivor.

XOxoxox

Chemical Free Cleaning Frenzy

I went on a bAzzUrk cleaning frenzy today. A little secret about me is that some may call me dirty, messy and I have even thought of myself akin to "Pig Pen'... like the time i jumped in someone's car and the sun shown just right through the windshield only to reveal a cloud of dust poofing off my clothes. Then they sneezed. Not to say I am totally disgusting but I can relax with a mess around - as long as everything I need is perfectly organized and in it's place. A little dirt won't hurt.
When I do finally decide it's time to repair the tornado that is life - I do everything eco friendly without a single chemical.
I hand wash my clothes in a Wonder Wash (spins them clean in just a few minutes) without using soap! I usually squeeze a lemon into the wash, drop some baking soda, or vinegar... or like today I boiled some ginger & lavender in water and poured that in. Mmmm.... smells so good. I stopped using soap many years ago when I could not find one that was gluten free plus chemical free (I bet there are some like that now but I dont look for it anymore.)
Once the clothes are washed I hang dry them - outside in the spring, summer and fall and then inside over the main heat source during the winter. The outside sun does the best and makes the clothes smell sooooo good, so in the winter I really miss it. I don't eva' use a clothes dryer.
For cleaning my kitchen counter and table I invented a neat little liquid scrub in my blender today... I took a huge chunk of ginger and a few sprigs of fresh lavender, tossed them into the blender with a cup or two of water and blended the ba-jezuz out of it. I then wiped clean all the smooth surfaces! It totally got up the whatever that makes globby spots and sticks to tile. It worked good on hard to clean dishes too. :)
I swept the floor and picked up bits of trash. All tidy and smelling good without any chems or much electricity.

But I am not even through...

XoXo

The Road Outta Here: New Home Wish List

Ok, I am going to share something woo woo with ya'll, something that I do every time I have moved for the last 4 years and it has never failed to work...word for word. It's the power of the list!
It all started out as a way to organize my housing needs and have fun with my imagination, but then it turned out I got everything (I mean everything!) on my list - within a few days I would find a new place or solution and get out of housing limbo & on the road.
So now I am on list number...(hmm) 5, and here it is:

1. Lots of windows
2. forest to play in (10 acres or more with surrounding wooded properties)
3. creek/drinkable water/spring
4. chemical free/ safe for MCS/ wood floors
5. hot water (solar preferably)
6. cool neighbors who are nice, friendly and eco
7. cheap payments under $300 a month
8. easy to get to for people to visit me
9. in a pure clean area
10. own or rent to own
11. place for my donkey and animals
12. spot to grow a sustainable amount of organic food
13. sunny!
14. no mold problems/ leaks
15. wood stove (for heat and cooking)/ good secondary source of heat
16. i can stay for years and years or a lifetime if i want :)

YOUR TURN! Make your dream home list in the comments section (you might say something I forgot and can add to my list)!!!
XoXo

Sustainable Living: Renter vs. Land Owner

Recently I have decided to move away from the place I am currently living at in Big Sandy Mush, for various personal reasons. One of the things I have experienced as a struggle over the years (when looking for residence), is trying to live a fully sustainable lifestyle as someone who is a renter. Moving from place to place every 6 months or once a year is not a very easy or an earth friendly lifestyle in some regards. The reason I know the difference so well is because not that long ago I was a home owner, real estate investor who bought and sold 4 properties...2 of which I lived at for an extended period of time, long enough to see how fast and amazing you could transform a home into something eco. I feel as though as a renter I have made organic gardens everywhere I go, outfitted houses in water filtration systems, and maintained the houses totally non toxic- only to have to leave and go to the next one. While I may have made a lighter footprint where I lived, it always feels as though I am falling short from being able to delve into certain aspects of living a nature friendly life that would be more meaningful to me - aka on a house I am renting I can not invest money into building things like solar hot water heaters, composting toilets, or other huge repairs that could make the place a bit "greener", if i know I will have to leave shortly after. I feel stunted as a renter on so many levels, the lack of freedom can be exhausting and claustrophobic. When I add in the need for a healthy environment to maintain my personal health, it becomes even more layered.

I would love to know what ya'll do as renters (and home owners) to maintain sustainable lifestyles- what kind of situations you are in, how you make it work, things you have discovered?!
I would also love to see links to some DIY solar hot water heater projects, and other cheap,upcycle,easy or free things you did to maintain the homes you live in!!

XoXo

Incubator Born Baby Chickens

My homesteading neighbors, Nikki & Cody, have been incubating chicken eggs for the last few weeks which has been really exciting to wait for. The first birth and death have finally come along... both of which are fascinating. Two chicks began hatching, one made it out but in the pic below this chick couldn't get all the way out the egg before it seemed to have drowned in it's embryotic fluid. Terrible but true.

With the macabre news out of the way right off, now we can focus on the cute-tastic explosion pictured below that cracked out it's egg and is a fuzzy peeping ball of perfection. The red hue is from the heat lamp it's lounging under while it gets adjusted to being alive. These chickens are being bred mostly for their yummy organic & free roaming eggs. It's nice to see that baby born and not just in a frying pan for a change. :) I had to hold it and love on it, and since the weather actually got really cold here in the smokey mountains in the picture below I was breathing hot air into my hands so it would stay warm... possibly more for my own entertainment then anything. But oh, look how small it is, so soft it's like it has fur instead of feathers! Baby animals are magnetizing.

xoxo

Earth Oven: Cooking In The Ground

EARTHING...
I love my toaster oven and have longed for a solar oven for quite a while, but making a earth oven is about as primitive (and free) as you can get - but I won't tell ya that it's an easy process cause this project takes serious backbone. We started out by slaughtering a goat which I totally am sparing ya'll any post about because basically everyone involved had some feeling of wishing to have spared themselves and the cute wittle goat from the whole archaic experience. The theory involved though is those who would like to eat meat want to make their food decisions based on the reality of where our food comes from, and provide this food for themselves.

The primitive earth oven can be used for cooking other foods too, not just animal meat... so here is how we put one together:
First a few of us dug a large hole, mounding a levee style pile of dirt around the sides (kinda like making a replica New Orleans), and then lining the hole with rocks.
On top those rocks we piled dried sticks, weeds, and bamboo to get a fire started, then threw split wood on top to get a raging hot inferno going. On top of the smouldering fire we threw in more rocks to help hold the heat.
While the fire was kept burning by adding logs and dried stuff, we went out to gather the fresh greenery that is required to layer inside the hole with the goat we were cooking. The green stuff has a dual purpose of creating steam to cook inside the hole and also as a protective cover from the dirt that will be piled on later. We used bamboo leaves, bamboo shoots, and burdock leaves as the steaming layers because they are abundant and renewable.

After about 5 hours we let the fire die down to red hot charcoal and white hot rocks. This is when you are ready to add in the green layers and whatever food you are going to bake.

Wrapping your food in foil is obviously not very primitive... and isn't required at all - you can simply wrap it in giant burdock, banana or some other large (safe) plant leaf that will keep the dirt from falling onto it. But as ya can see below, there is the little goat we slaughtered all wrapped in tin foil under the protection of an umbrella since rain came down a bit on the project. Terrible, ya'll!

The bamboo shoots went down first, then a good layer of bamboo leaves and branches, before laying the goat into the center of the heat. After the foiled goat was in we put the layer of burdock.

More rocks were added to help hold in the hot steam and heat once underneath the dirt.

And more and more bamboo leaves, which were creating all that white hot steam that was rising out in big puffy rolls.

Dirt was put back on top all this in thick layers until we stopped seeing the steam rise out of little holes yet to be covered. It looked like a volcano about to erupt.

UNEARTHING...

5 hours later it was time to dig up the freshly earth cooked goat. A party full of naysayers and onlookers were holding their breathe wondering if the hot ground had really cooked the animal into an edible meal - but I knew for sure that thing was going to be cooked as perfectly as a wood stove makes a pot of rice. The heat from this job was so intense most the people working on it were sweatin' buckets and had to be incredibly careful not to get burned by a hot rock.

After tons of layers were dug back, taking not even 10 minutes Cody (pictured below) pulled up the goat he slaughtered out of the ground and proudly brought it to the table for everyone to taste, be woo'ed by and also be petrified of! Half the party stood away from the goat and half waited anxiously to try it.

The use of the earth as an oven was perfectly successful - all the herbs and potatoes stuffed inside the goat reminded me of Louisiana crawfish boils, where the potatoes & corn come out looking creamy soft. The goat itself was completely cooked, and could have even been left in only 3 hours instead and been done already. (Pictured below is Brandon at left who helped with the slaughter tempting Jason Bugg to eat some...)

A Little Side Note: Slaughtering the goat, in which I only took part of some of it, was really gross-ah-fying - it reminded me of catholic school propaganda about satanic rituals when nearing the end of the gutting & burying. If ya have any detailed questions about the homestead goat killing let me know in the comments section, since I won't be doing an actual blog post about it.

xoxo