Are you ready?

Something extraordinary is about to happen. Yes, I know the coronavirus is taking its toll on the economy, and if you watch the news you see people in the streets with masks on. It looks bad, really bad.  I'm not all that concerned about the shipments of food being delayed since I can just walk to my garden and get fresh food whenever I want. This is one of the many reasons we grow our food. I truly hope this passes with minimal damage.

Let's remain hopefully and think about the wonderful things we have to look forward to. Spring is an exciting time for gardeners and homesteaders. For us, it means longer days and more daylight. We don't have to keep the wood stove burning as much, so we don't have to keep up with firewood and cleaning out the ashes. That makes my daughter really happy.

Salad mix with row covers
for protection on cold nights

The crops we overwintered in our greenhouse are starting to take off and we are thrilled to have warmer days. This time of year can bring on some challenges also. Raccoons, foxes, hawks and coyotes are now prowling around, which means our chickens have to be extra careful. We do everything we can to protect them but if they fly over the electric fencing, they become vulnerable, and believe me, a fox will outsmart chicken even on a bad day.

We are starting radishes, salad mix, salad turnips, beets, pac choy, brussel sprouts and other leafy greens. These cool season crops thrive in the warm days and cool nights.

We have started our first peppers and tomatoes in our greenhouse but it will be a couple weeks before we set those out. I'm tempted to set out a few early plants but I know what will happen if I do too early. Frost will get them. Our last frost date here in Middle TN is May 1. We patiently wait for May 1, then we have to juggle rain showers. Is the ground too wet, is it too dry to plant? When we catch the weather right we jump all over the opportunity to plant our food.

Pac choy planted with
compost spread around

The garden is an extraordinary place on the homestead, it represents life, hope and challenges that await. It's a place where we can make money by harvesting and selling niche crops. Its also a place where failure is always lurking and one wrong move could mean death to the crop for that year. That's heartbreaking, because sometimes you only have one chance to get it right, otherwise you have to wait for next year. A lot of life lessons can be learned in the garden. If you have too many weeds in your garden, your plants will suffer and eventually succumb to pressure. Isn't that true with life?

This time of year is very inspiring and you don't have to look far for encouragement. Just take time and observe nature, walk outside and listen for birds. Take a moment and just watch them, don't think about anything else except nature. Spring is right around the corner!

Jason Smith
Homesteader and Market Gardener
Email: jason@smithfamilyfarmtn.com
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH_6SzCMTTkjND
S8qU2TzEg
Website: www.smithfamilyfarmtn.com

Heating your homestead

Megan using the wood splitter!

We love our wood burning stove.. here's why
Free heat!!! We heat our house in the winter with free firewood. People that come to our house have asked us about our wood stove and how it works. Let me be clear, Megan and I are not doomsday people. We just choose a simple more thrifty way of living.  We heat our house for free; it just takes a little searching, time and work. No kidding, with two days of work Megan and I can put back enough firewood to heat our house and one of our greenhouses for an entire winter.  We live about 30 minutes east of Nashville so wood is plentiful, especially after a storm comes through. I can go on craigslist any giving time, click on the “free” section and find firewood. We can actually be fairly selective about it since it’s so abundant. Sometimes we will find it already cut into perfect lengths for splitting, which saves my chainsaw.

I call the person that posted to craigslist and ask these qualifying questions.

1. Do you know what type of wood it is?

• Hickory (good hardwood)
• Bodock or hedge apple (good hardwood)
• Cherry (good hardwood that doesn’t smoke too much)
• Hackberry (good wood)
• Sweetgum (not great, but you can burn it)
• Cedar (burns hot and fast, great for starting fires
• Pine (Soft wood)
• Bradford Pear (avoid)

2. How long has the wood been sitting?
    If it been sitting for more than 3 months uncovered then it has probably started to rot.
3. Is the wood in a location that is easily accessible?

Silver pipe is used for heat and black pipe goes through
wall and pushes smoke outside

We usually spend one day loading then unloading when we get back to the farm. The next day we rent a wood splitter for the day which usually cost about $80. Not bad in my opinion. Get ready for a workout on splitting day. We split, and then stack in one day.  We make it family affair and have fun working together.  Remember firewood needs to season before you burn it. We let ours sit for about 1 year before we burn it. Always keep the firewood covered.
Our house has central heat/air. Our wood stove is in our basement, we designed it this way because heat rises. However, we took it a step further and built a small catchment box around the wood stove that traps heat. We bought metal pipe they use for ductwork and tied it into our return line on our central heat/air unit from the wood stove. We simply cut a 12 inch by 12 opening, large enough to place a filter when the heat draws off the woodstove. When we turn the unit to fan mode it pulls the warm air from the catchment box and distributes it evenly through our house using the vents your regular heat/air comes out. After winter is over we just place a cap over the pipe that feeds into the return and it shuts this off allowing your regular airflow to continue when you turn the air condition back on.
You can take it a step further if you want to invest in a thermoelectric generator also called a seebeck generator which converts heat directly into electrical energy. You can buy these to go on your wood stove.  Happy homesteading!

Jason Smith
Homesteader and Market Gardener
Email: jason@smithfamilyfarmtn.com
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH_6SzCMTTkjND
S8qU2TzEg
Website: www.smithfamilyfarmtn.com

Generate income from your homestead

Additional income from your homestead

Homesteading is about being self-sufficient, right? Creating income

from your homestead is how we get one step closer to financial freedom

and self sufficiency.  Most homesteaders use their land to produce for

themselves and their families and that’s great. But let's take it that a step further

and think about the things you have around your homestead/small farm and

figure out ways to generate additional income. If you are a homesteader you

probably have developed a product, or skills specific to your area and climate.

Someone is probably willing to pay for that knowledge. Here are a couple ideas for
you to start brainstorming.

Market garden

Manure/compost

Micro green business

Eggs

Small scale woodworking

Market garden

Do you have a garden? I can’t imagine a homestead without one. It doesn’t

take much to start a garden. You can grow niche products in very small

areas, like leaf lettuce, salad turnips, bok choy, herbs, beets, carrots, dwarf

tomatoes, microgreens, Asian greens, mustard greens, cabbages.. the list

goes on and on. These are vegetable that don’t require large plots of land to

grow. You can grow a lot of food in a very small space. Locally owned

restaurants, friends and neighbors are looking for locally sourced food. It last

longer and usually taste better.

Manure/compost

If you have chickens or other livestock, this is should be easy. Each day when we
take care of our chickens we take a paint scraper and scrape up the manure in
the chicken coop. We put it in a 5 gallon bucket and usually within a week we fill two

5 gallon buckets full. Think about that.. That’s 520 gallons of chicken manure alone
in a year that goes back into building soil for a garden. Manure mixed with grass

clippings, leaves, table scraps, coffee grounds and whatever else you can

compost makes for some very fertile soil. Sure, it takes a little time to compost down

but the wait is certainly worth it. Do you have any neighbors that garden? If

you're in an urban setting I’m sure your neighbors would love a couple

buckets of this locally sourced compost for their garden beds. Charge them for

each 5 gallon bucket.  

Micro greens

Pea sprouts

Most folks run when they see micro greens. They probably think, that’s sounds

complicated. Trust me, it’s not. If you can grow a garden then micros are a walk

in the park. Micro greens are nothing more than sprouting seeds in a tray. The

two most popular we grow are sunflower shoots and pea shoots. Restaurants

love them and you don’t need a lot of space to grow a good amount of these.

This past year we actually built some shelves on casters in our basement and

with some supplemental lighting we were in business. We were able to keep

about 50 trays going all winter for our restaurants. We generated a couple hundred
bucks per week growing these and selling to restaurants.

Eggs

If you have chickens this is the most obvious source of income from them. I will

caution you though, make sure you understand your investment in chickens and

what you are charging per dozen for eggs. Chickens are more expensive than

people think, especially if you are buying organic non GMO feed. I see folks

selling their farm fresh eggs at $2 and $3 per dozen and I question how

sustainable that is long term. We use them as a value added product with our

market garden. Chickens do a lot for our place, they eat our table scraps, bugs,

give us manure, and obviously eggs. Understand your finances when it comes

to chickens, or any venture on your homestead for that matter.

Small Scale Woodworking

We live in Middle Tennessee, so we are very blessed with eastern red cedar.

Luckily for us, their is a mill close to us where we can buy rough cut lumber.

Megan and I make tables, benches, desks and bookshelves with cedar. I would

say to start small, all you need are some basic power tools to knock together some

birdhouses. Most folks probably think… I have no carpentry skills, we didn't either.

And the first one you build will not look like what you had envisioned or sketched

out on paper. Each one you build after that will get better and better. Find some

simple birdhouse plans on the internet and give it a try. Let your neighbors know

and ask them if they’d be interested in adding some birdhouses in their yard.

Small desk we built using
eastern red cedar

Workshops

Are you skilled at something on your place? Do you have specific knowledge

about something unique on your place? If you do, then I’ll bet there's someone

out there willing to pay for that knowledge. Especially, if you can give them a hands

on demonstration in a forum where they can ask questions directly to you.

Look around your homestead and figure out ways to generate a little income.

As homesteaders, we want to be more self sufficient. I’m always looking for new

ways to generate additional income from our land without destroying it.

Have questions? Email me: jason@smithfamilyfarmtn.com

Jason Smith
Homesteader and Market Gardener
Email: jason@smithfamilyfarmtn.com
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH_6SzCMTTkjND
S8qU2TzEg
Website: www.smithfamilyfarmtn.com

Develop a gardening system for success

Its all happening now, the warm season is here and your mind is racing with things to plant or try. Let me offer you a couple suggestions... plan your garden and work the plan. If you have the space, you should make a couple different garden spots. If you visit our farm you'll see garden spots in what seems to be random places. But believe me, it's not random at all. Each spot we chose was very well thought out and carefully planned.
You might try to categorize your garden. Have a salad garden, a summer garden and a eat and store garden.

Salad garden:
The salad garden will include early season crops like lettuces, radishes, beets, carrots, scallions Asian greens and salad turnips. These all have shorter days to maturity and grow well in early spring. You don't need a lot space to grow a large amount of food either. A 6 ft by 8 ft area can grow a lot of food. I have designed a plan for you to reference below.

Salad mix

Summer garden:
Here is the one that gets everyone excited. Tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, melons, zucchini, summer squash, and the list goes on. A nice summer garden can keep your family in fresh produce for weeks. You can also can or freeze if you have too much. I consider it a bonus, it is literally like put putting money in my pocket. Last year we had an abundance of cherry tomatoes so we washed and froze them. Megan used them through the winter to make pasta dishes. Spaghetti squash with a marinara and cherry tomatoes is so, so good in winter. Too me, that's comfort food. A 30 ft by 40 ft area can yield a lot of produce for a family, if planned correctly.

Store and Eat garden:
This is where we plant potatoes, corn and all the winter squash you can imagine. We plant corn, then butternut and spaghetti squash next to the corn. The winter squash will vine out and cover the ground around the corn and choke out the weeds. Butternut and spaghetti squash will keep for 8 months, if it is stored properly. You can freeze corn on the cob, or you can cut it off and place in freezer bags and eat throughout winter.

Careful planning can make a huge difference, not only in the quality of your garden but also the quantity. Megan and I have been growing vegetables year around on our farm in Middle Tennessee for many years. We want to share our knowledge, and hope people can draw some inspiration on what we have learned over the years. We currently operate an on farm market with seasonal produce. Please share this with anyone you think might benefit from it. 





Jason Smith
Homesteader and Market Gardener
Email: jason@smithfamilyfarmtn.com
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH_6SzCMTTkjND
S8qU2TzEg
Website: www.smithfamilyfarmtn.com

Making time to homestead

TIME!
I wish they made more of this. You have to make time for this venture. Include your spouse and kids. I really feel that homesteading is a noble thing that is very underrated. Kids love playing in soil and getting dirty. Allow time for them to play and get dirty. And then sit back and observe them, and watch the gratitude they get from just being outside. Maybe you can find some happiness in watching your kids be happy.

Early spring baby romaine
lettuce head

When can we find time to homestead? Before work, after work and weekends. If you really want to do this you will make time. Don’t neglect your spouse and children, you need their support to be successful in this venture. Family first, then homestead. I have seen families ripped apart because folks don’t have their priorities in order. If your loved ones feel they are second place to your homestead, they will resent it. Trust me, it is possible to keep everyone happy.
Don’t move to the country on a whelm and think that the homesteading gene within you will come alive just because you are in the country. If you truly want to homestead, you will find a way to do it no matter where you are. Take time each day to read and learn a new skill. Reading will give you the basics, but taking time to actually do it will be the true test. I can give you detailed instructions on how to care for chickens or how to grow vegetables but until you actually do it yourself, in your climate, and in your yard, then you will never master it.
Make time to learn and understand your land. Observation is a powerful tool on your homestead. Take time to understand your micro climate. Look at your land and understand the layout, and where the sun hits throughout the day. How the wind blows across you land and how water drains. Take time to understand where the warm and cool spots are on your land during the seasons, especially fall and spring. Make time for this, it doesn’t take long. Wake early one morning, 5:30 am, and watch the sun come up. Do this for each season because you can make decisions on where you plant crops for the micro climate you live in.  Observe where the sun hits your land first thing in the morning. Ask yourself, should I put a garden here or a wind break? How much sunlight is this spot going to receive throughout the day? If it’s 10 hours of direct sunlight then you might want to plant tomatoes or peppers there, but not lettuce. Take time to observe, make your plan, then work your plan.

Homesteading is very rewarding but like anything you want master it takes time and the willingness to fail, then succeed. Be the master of your homestead, make time to understand your layout. Email me with question and share this with anyone you think might benefit from it.

Jason Smith
Homesteader and Market Gardener
Email: jason@smithfamilyfarmtn.com
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH_6SzCMTTkjND
S8qU2TzEg
Website: www.smithfamilyfarmtn.com

No till garden

Do you understand the power of a chicken? We have learned to love and respect our flock, they do some amazing work for our farm. And they love doing it, I have never seen a chicken that did not enjoy scratching and pecking in the soil.  Chickens can do a lot for your homestead and they are very entertaining. But, I want to go into detail on one thing they did for us this winter. They prepped a garden spot for us.

If you follow us you know that we move our chickens however, this winter we put them on a spot and let them stay there all winter. They ate all the grass, weeds and they scratched down to the soil. We moved the chickens in early March and waited. As the sun came out and warmed the soil, weeds started to emerge. Grow weeds first, then kill the weeds and plant your garden.

Weeds began to emerge
after a couple weeks

Then, I took the flame weeder and torched the weeds. I love this tool, and I have never met a weed that stood up to my torch.

Torched the weeds that
emerged

Now, you basically have a sterile seed bed. Remember, each time you till, you bring up new weed seeds.

After we waited for about 2 to 3 hours the next step is to add compost on top of the sterile seed bed. This way we are building soil vs. breaking it down by tilling. Then we plant the crop in the composted organic matter.

The chickens were on the same ground all winter, dropping their manure, scratching and spreading it around. The soil underneath the compost has plenty of natural fertilizer because the chickens.  They were also digging through the soil and eating grubs and other bugs. This is what chickens love to do. Our chickens are vital to our farm, they also helped make the compost we use for our gardens.

Spread compost 1 to 2
inches thick with
garden rake

No excuse not to have a garden this year. You don't need a tiller, cultivators or other big tools to make a garden. Now you have a no till garden, so I would challenge you to grow a little food for your family. Plant things you love to eat. If you don't have chickens put a dark colored tarp down on the spot you want a garden on. Then leave it for 3 weeks, uncover it and let the weeds start to come up again. Then, take the torch to it, this is the fun part for me. It's that easy, now you have a garden and you didn't have to break your back trying to dig up the back yard. Good luck!

Jason Smith
Homesteader and Market Gardener
Email: jason@smithfamilyfarmtn.com
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH_6SzCMTTkjND
S8qU2TzEg
Website: www.smithfamilyfarmtn.com

It's about to happen

Something extraordinary is about to happen. After a long cold, wet winter, nature is coming back to life. Spring is an exciting time for gardeners and homesteaders. For us, it means longer days and more daylight. We don't have to keep the wood stove burning as much, so we don't have to keep up with firewood and cleaning out the ashes. That makes my daughter really happy.

The crops we overwintered in our greenhouse are starting to take off and we are thrilled to have warmer days. This time of year can bring on some challenges also. Raccoons, foxes and coyotes are now prowling around, which means our chickens have to be extra careful. We do everything we can to protect them but if they fly over the electric fencing we have, they become vulnerable, and believe me, a fox will outsmart chicken even on a bad day.

We are starting radishes, salad mix, salad turnips, beets, pac choy, brussel sprouts and other leafy greens. These cool season crops thrive in the warm days and cool nights.

Salad mix with row covers
for protection on cold nights

We have started our first peppers and tomatoes in our greenhouse but it will be a couple weeks before we set those out. I'm tempted to set out a few early plants but I know what will happen if I do too early. Frost will get them. Our last frost date here in Middle TN is May 1. We patiently wait for May 1, then we have to juggle rain showers. Is the ground too wet, is it too dry to plant? When we catch the weather right we jump all over the opportunity to plant our food.

Pac choy planted with
compost spread around

The garden is an extraordinary place on the homestead, it represents life, hope and challenges that await. It's a place where we can make money by harvesting and selling niche crops. Its also a place where failure is always lurking and one wrong move could mean death to the crop for that year. That's heartbreaking, because sometimes you only have one chance to get it right, otherwise you have to wait for next year. A lot of life lessons can be learned in the garden. If you have too many weeds in your garden, your plants will suffer and eventually succumb to pressure. Isn't that true with life?

This time of year is very inspiring and you don't have to look far for encouragement. Just take time and observe nature, walk outside and listen for birds. Take a moment and just watch them, don't think about anything else except nature. Spring is right around the corner!

Jason Smith
Homesteader and Market Gardener
Email: jason@smithfamilyfarmtn.com
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH_6SzCMTTkjND
S8qU2TzEg
Website: www.smithfamilyfarmtn.com