Progress on an Alaskan Homestead
I can’t believe the year is almost over with. Its Mid-November, the ground is fully covered
with snow (finally), and we’re just about done for the season.
This year seemed to be more about protein farming than our
garden really; when I sit and ponder it.
Slowly but surely our property is becoming more and more
productive. In July I posted that it
seemed as if our meat rabbit production was not doing as well but suddenly come
September that all changed. We had two
surprise litters and we had a friend drop off some of her grow outs as she was
getting out of rabbits for a while. This
pushed our meat harvested massively up.
That definitely helps counter the cost of raising the rabbits. While I love my breeder rabbits (Bones,
Pepper, Dorothy, Cadbury, Butterfinger, Granny Cookie) they are not simply pets. As any protein farmer knows, these are also
my livestock. I get to know each and
every one. Their likes and dislikes, who
enjoys what kind of food and who tends to be more ornery or more cuddly and
lovable. Within the next couple of weeks
we will be deboning a good portion of the rabbits harvested which will then go
into several different types of sausage.
Last year we made an apple sage and also an Andouille rabbit sausage
that was tasty but rather dry. This year
we will be using more pork fat to increase the fat and moisture levels some to
rectify that. I now have about 70
tanned rabbit furs that I am working with on a blanket for my son. I have promised him he could have a blanket
as well as maybe a pillow with rabbit fur.
Any extra tidbits of fur will be used to line hand knitted mittens and
hats which, I think, will look really stylish up here in the Interior of
Alaska.
Our egg layers are doing great! We have had some sad moments this past
autumn. Ellie, which was Tess’s best
friend, passed away from the same virus as Kara at the end of August.
This upcoming year, believe it or not, we have no huge
projects other than clearing trees. We
hope to prepare for a greenhouse within the next two years but in order to do
that we have to remove some trees. I
feel that the break in between projects will be good as we will be able to
concentrate on the garden now and getting it up to being fully productive. The soil is better, but as I’ve said in the
past, it’s still nowhere where it needs to be.
The past two years have been in a word, crazy. It has been insanely busy, with too little
rest as we kept up with a very busy schedule.
Between the wood shed build, the rabbit hutches, then increasing the
amount of rabbit hutches, then building the chicken coop and run. Add in all the other garden projects, our
budding orchard and we have had very little time to just sit back and watch the
garden and analyze the progress or lack thereof.
I intend to try a couple of new plants in the garden. Amaranth, Sea Buckthorn berry and potentially
Quinoa. I have heard grains like
Amaranth or Quinoa are a hit or miss here (with more misses than hits). Unfortunately, due to our very short growing
season here many can grow Amaranth or Quinoa however getting it to fully mature
to seed production, which of course is used as the grain, is challenging. From what I have found from many sites
visited, Quinoa actually does do better here however than Amaranth as Amaranth
loves the heat, Quinoa does not. Both
Amaranth and Quinoa technically are not a grain, however their seeds can be
used as a non gluten grain replacement.
I can definitely vouch for the fact that they are both delicious.
I have heard recently from a friend that varieties of
Siberian Sea Buckthorn berry grows very well here. There are amazing health benefits of Sea
Buckthorn berry as reported by the NIH (National Institute of Health). Per WebMD, Sea Buckthorn berry can be used
for slowing the decline of thinking skills with age, treating stomach and
intestinal diseases, treating night blindness and dry eye and it is very high
in Vitamin C and also contains vitamins A, E as well as beta-carotene. I take a small amount of Sea Buckthorn berry
oil each day internally and I even use it in small amounts topically. If you use it topically, be careful however
as it will turn your skin a funny shade of orange. I have noticed a big difference in overall
skin tone and texture since I have been using it.
We will also be expanding our orchard some next year. Hopefully we will be adding more
honeyberries, more currants, strawberries and hopefully some Siberian
Plums. When the snow melts and the
ground thaws we will also have fencing to put up to help guard against the
depredations of the moose that love to come visit our buffet garden.
When written down, it does not seem like a lot but I know we
will end up being very busy, as usual this next summer. I am sure also that come mid January we will
discover even more things that we feel should be done and so of course, will be
added to list.
That is us though, always busy, always moving, always
striving towards a more self sustainable lifestyle.
America's Test Kitchen simplifies salt-cured egg yolks.
(n.d.). Retrieved November 14, 2018, from https://www.splendidtable.org/story/americas-test-kitchen-simplifies-salt-cured-egg-yolks
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5438513/
Sea Buckthorn: Uses, Side Effects, Interactions, Dosage, and
Warning. (n.d.). Retrieved November 14, 2018, from https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-765/sea-buckthorn
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