Hectic Life at the Homestead

Wild flora, a bat box, and waiting for a post to set. It's never dull around here.

Shhhhhh, The Kids Are Sleeping

Twin additions to the homestead:

I will also post a video of these young-uns, if I can figure out how.

Garden Time

I'm on the hunt for good gardening strategies and techniques. I liked this article, by Lyle Dykes, on how to deal with snails and slugs. Ya gotta love Backwoods Home Magazine.

Wildlife at the Homestead

My sister helped me identify this as a Black Kingsnake (we're pretty sure that's what he is). He's a beaut and all, but where is Saint Patrick when I need him?

The Great Paul Wheaton on Hugelkultur

Read all about Hugelkultur here. Mr. Wheaton seems tireless in his pursuit of good homesteading and permaculture information. I think there are few who know more about hugelkultur than he.

The Homestead

Having searched since mid summer, my husband and I just located and purchased a Middle Tennessee homestead. We've been spending as much time there as possible, learning everything we can of the place's history as well as trying to figure out the best way to contemplate and approach this piece of ground. We two have been urbanites our entire lives, so naturally we're awed and humbled. Regardless of the soil quality, the opportunity for cultivation is ours, I'll put it that way. Fossils and arrowheads abound in this place and there are lovely sycamores, poplars, hickories, buckeyes and oaks, along with deer, coyote and turkey. And here's my final rhapsody: owls and whippoorwills call of an evening.

I realize I've allowed this ongoing personal adventure to disrupt the already fairly loose Survival Messenger update schedule. Therefore, I am hereby resolving to a whole new level of commitment (for me, anyway) for blogitudinous blogadociousness delivered with established and faithful blogularity.

Just as soon as I get back to town.

LMR

Water Filtration

Survival Messenger appeared on Tim Ridley's Road Dog Trucking show this week to discuss emergency water filtration.

There are so many off-grid water filtration devices on the market--too many to cover in one show. All Tim and I could do was to touch on some well-known favorites: The British Berkefeld (Berkey) systems, AquaRain, Katadyn and Lifesaver.

I use (and love) the AquaRain gravity filter for daily processing of our home's tap water. This removes the chlorine taste and does not tax the filter elements at all.

For on-the-road emergencies, I keep some #4 Melitta coffee filters and a Sport Berkey in my road bag. The coffee filters can be used to strain the larger undesirables from "mud puddle" water. This pre-filtering helps preserve the life of the Sport Berkey's filter element which makes the yucky water truly potable. Additionally, I consider water purification tablets to be a must-have for travel, but I would use these as a last resort.

I'm really getting into DIY water filtration, thanks to cheaperthandirt.com. Here one can purchase an inexpensive filter element, combine it with two food-grade plastic buckets and a dispenser spigot, and voila'. Check out the video.

LMR