The Blue Bucket Project

Ok, so that's not really a thing, I just came up with that name,  but what we do is very real. Several years ago we decided that we would need to conserve water whatever way we could. Living in a semi desert landscape in California, means that water is a commodity, especially at our home where we choose to homestead. Unless you've been living under a rock you will know that California is being hit by a serious drought. Drought isn't anything new to California, but this year drought seems to be the worst we've had  in a long while.  A few years ago after deliberating on ways to conserve water, one of us  (I don't even remember who it this point) suggested the "Blue Bucket Project"

It's a simple enough concept, we keep a 5 gallon bucket in each of the showers, to collect the water that would've been wasted during warm-up. Then we carry the buckets outside and water something. Trust me, at this house there's no short supply of  things that need to be watered.

One would ask, "Does it really make a difference? Is it really worth the trouble?" The answer in our book is, "yes"! If you figure at minimum there are three people every day taking a shower, it takes roughly a gallon and a half of water to warm up the shower. At the end of one week that's 31 1/2 gallons of water. At the end of the year it's 1,638 gallons of water that we're paying for that otherwise would've gone down the drain and been wasted.  And that's just for three people, imagine if you were a family of five or six! Consider starting your own Blue Bucket Project in your own home! 

Here Comes the Crops doo doo doo doo

When I was in high school the farthest thing from my mind were crops, gardens, livestock or bees. My how things have changed. All four of those topics are part of my every day conversations and our concern over honeybee colony collapse or HCC has had us considering putting a hive in our own backyard! WHO AM I? Just Kidding. Like all aspects of getting older, our ideas, concerns and values change (hopefully for the better).

We got a late start to our garden this year because we were in Hawaii during prime planting time. We had a fabulous time in Hawaii, but it set our crops back about 6 weeks. In June we are normally enjoying the first fruits of our labor. But this year with small plants and not a single bee to be found, we had some serious concerns that we'd have any crops at all. But alas, God must have provided the bees when we weren't outside because last night we finally started to see some fruits on our blooms.


                                                             Spaghetti Squash

 

Butternut Squash

 

Cucumber

                                                             and then the mystery plant

 

 

 

the mystery plant's fruit

The mystery plant is just that, a mystery! It came up completely on its own. It cropped up underneath the turkey coop and started to flourish without being watered by us. It's clearly in the squash family, based on the leaves and flowers of the plant, also it's sending off runners. My primary guess is pumpkin but I guess we'll know for sure in a few weeks!

So even though we are yet to see a single bee in our yard, they clearly are coming in undetected! So work away little bees!

 

 

Bant-attitude

Sometimes your chickens just give you attitude!

Have you ever really looked at a chicken? They look like they're in a bad mood most of the time! Not like dogs, who almost seem to smile at you. This little guy, and I do mean little (he fits nicely in the palm of your hand) has got some spunk! More than his sister, who wasn't interested in getting in the camera shot. If you pull his sister out and not him, he'll pace in front of the cage door and tweet at you until you pick him up. Then he'll proceed to thank you by pecking your hand. Not that it hurts, but still. Once you have him though, his demeanor changes and he really is quite sweet. This particular breed of chicken is a Bantam. They're marvelous little birds who absolutely love attention, which makes them marvelous for showmanship!  Cam is in the poultry project with our local 4H club. Last year, when we went to fair, we took one of our Australorp pullets for him to show. She was absolutely terrified of the small cage and the roosters crowing, that she spent most of the fair having a small panic attack and was unable to perform during showmanship. Because of this, Cameron borrowed a bantam from a friend and he was able to show her. Due to a bantams natural ease in the show ring, a friend of ours (our poultry leader), who loves Bantams, went ahead and bread a clutch. We were lucky to get two. Turns out we ended up with a female (who's camera shy) and this cockreal, who...well...has spunk! So every day, we get the "babies" out of their cage and handle them. In the next few weeks, we'll start working with Cam and the birds in showmanship skills. Unfortunately, after fair, we'll most likely have to re-home Mr.Spunk because we can't run the risk of him making babies with his sister.

-The Humble Homesteader

It's been a LOOOOONNNNNGGGGGGG time

So my Sister-In-Love started a blog recently, she is the Urban Dreamer. I absolutely love reading her posts and it reminded me that an oh so long time ago, I was a small time blogger. What happened? I surely didn't run out of things to say! HA! No I think I just let life get in the way. My last post was for my sons 6th birthday, he's now 10 and a half!

Four and a half years ago, I had just had a hysterectomy (I've had a complete recovery and feel pretty good most days). 

We still homeschool with Julian Charter School. Cameron is in the 5th grade. We started back in school in late May. We run Cameron on a year round program to keep his mind fresh. There are many benefits to our schedule including days off when we need them instead of when the school decides. It's a nice option seeing as Larry's schedule is totally dependent on current climate conditions. We had ended 4th grade early, so that we could take a nice long vacation in Hawaii! It was totally working through winter and spring breaks!

We still live in the same house, with no intentions of moving any time soon. We finally got things landscaped and decorated the way we like. Four years ago, we did a massive remodel to the inside of our home. . .  with the exception of the master bathroom, it's the last thing we need to do.

I no longer work as a photographer. I retired last May for medical reasons (that's a different post). My sister kept the business going in Southern California for the next nine months and took it with her when she moved to Port Orchard this spring. It's strange to no longer be a professional.  . . My entire adult life I worked as a professional photographer. I now dabble with side businesses (another post too) but nothing fills that void exactly.

I went ahead and went back through all of my previous blog posts, to see just how much has changed. WOW you can't really appreciate change until you look backward. Since my last blog we went from having a cute little garden, to a full on homestead (hence the blog name change). We now live off our land in a way I never imagined. We also joke that since animals outnumber us 10 to 1 we'd be the first to die in the event of an animal uprising.

So now where do I go from here? Now with things like Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest, I hope to connect my homestead lifestyle to the community in a way that will be helpful and hopefully inspiring to other potential homesteaders! If you like what I have to say, please share my blog, don't just judge old blog posts ;) Thanks for reading!

-The Humble Homesteader