Week 5 of 2017 was an interesting week around the Suburban Steader Homestead.  I did a little bit of “homesteading” work and a lot of planning to move forward in the spring.  Let me jump in and tell you how it all went down.

This Week’s Milestones

Last week was full of personal milestones that had nothing to do with the Suburban Steader Homestead.  This week was a “back to work” week in more ways than one.

Failing To Prepare Is Preparing To Fail

Yeah, John Wooden knocked it out of the park with this quote.  And, yes, I know that it’s a deviation from a Ben Franklin quote.  OK, enough arguing over who has the best quote.  What do I mean?

Well, this week I dug in deep to Amy Stross’ new book The Suburban Micro-Farm.  While I think it is an incredible book, the important lesson is to plan.  The spreadsheets that accompanied this book were completely awesome.  I’ve used them to not only plan my garden but set up monthly task lists and schedule tasks on my calendar for the year.  I have no reason why my garden won’t be run properly this year!

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The planning I did with those spreadsheets allowed me to finalize on my crop selection for this year.  That allowed me to order my seeds.  I always buy from High Mowing Seeds in Vermont.  I buy from them for a variety of reason.  First, I’m a New Englander by birth and love supporting companies local to my home area.  Second, they’ve signed the Safe Seed Initiative.  And, finally, they provide a discount to Member Support Brigade members over at The Survival Podcast.  The quality is great and I’m super happy with the product I get every year.

So, I have a plan and my seeds (they showed up yesterday – I ordered them Sunday).  I set up my little planting area in the basement and now I’m ready to go!

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Blog Work

The blog keeps chugging along.  As I mentioned, I did a really in-depth review of Amy Stross’ new book titled The Suburban Micro-Farm.  If you haven’t had a chance to read the review, please do.  I truly believe this book is a must have for the suburban gardener in all of us.

Social media, especially Instagram, have been lacking a little in my opinion.  Unfortunately, it’s that slow time of year where not much is going on.  My injury has also limited what I can do lately.

Next Week’s Goals

We’re slowing going to get into the swing of things this coming week.  I’ll be visiting a friend’s auto body shop this weekend. Pictures will be forthcoming.  Nothing really homesteading related there, but it is interesting to see different shops and how they work.

I’ll also be starting my onion seeds.  They are the first to get planted and also the first to get put in the ground.  I’m very excited about this coming year’s garden.  It’s been a struggle, but I think I’ve finally honed in on the right crops to grow that we’ll actually use.  You’ll, of course, come along for the journey.

In addition, I’m working on a trellis idea that is both a garden project and a woodworking project.  I need something I can “get my hands dirty” with and this might be it.  It’s a simple design that you’ll all be able to make.

Blog posts will continue to come out every Tuesday and Friday.  Next Tuesday’s post is a guest post about pallet projects around your suburban homestead.  I know it’s kind of a trendy, Pinterest-y topic, but I really feel you’ll be able to pull ideas from it to use around your homestead.

Long Term Plans

The shed is still lingering on the horizon.  I sure do talk about that a lot.  Dad isn’t scheduled to visit in the immediate future, so there’s no solid plan on it.  But I do have every intention of doing it.  I’m also mulling over that water delivery system I was talking about a few weeks ago.  One of the things holding me back on that is the fact that we may not be staying here (nothing is imminent) and I’m not sure how much sweat-equity I want to put into a place that I may not stay in long-term.

Week 5 is in the books everyone!  It’s already February! Time is just flying.  Summer will be here before we know it!

What projects around the Suburban Steader Homestead would you like to see me tackle in 2017? Let me know in the comments!

Week 4 of 2017 was a bit hectic for me but not so much around the Suburban Steader Homestead.  Curious why? Well, it started with a trip to the AFC Championship Game and then a snowboard trip to upper Vermont.  Come find out all about my adventures!

This Week’s Milestones

Last week was full of unique milestones around the Suburban Steader Homestead.  This week was a bit different in that I hit a few personal milestones.

AFC Championship Game

Fair Warning – this section has nothing to do with homesteading, so feel free to jump ahead.

You know that I’m a huge New England Patriots fan if you’ve spent any time on the Suburban Steader Facebook page.  I grew up in one of the towns next to their stadium and could even hear concerts at the stadium in the summer if the nights were quiet enough and my lake was calm enough.  As a child of the ‘80s, I suffered through many horrible seasons so this run since roughly 2000 has been really nice to be a part of.

Anyway, late last Friday I got a call from an old college friend.  He had two extra tickets to the game from a vendor and asked if I wanted them (he was already going).  Oh, did I mention they were for free?!? I found out my brother would be in town (he lives on Nantucket), so we took them!

Long story short, we had a great time tailgating and cheering on boys as they completely owned the game.  Props to the Pittsburgh Steelers – they played a good game but were not on the same level as the Patriots.  More importantly, however, I want to give major props to the Pittsburgh fans.  They were all over the stadium and were awesome.  Super friendly and congratulatory at the end of the game.  Good people.  I have had the chance to work with folks in the Pittsburgh area in my last job and have to say that they are some of the best people in the world.

So, my boys are off to Houston for the Super Bowl and I couldn’t be happier.  The trip to the AFC Championship Game was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I am so happy I got to spend it with my brother.  That was truly a treat in and of itself.

Annual Snowboard Trip

What you probably don’t know about me is that, in college, I was a huge snowboarder and wakeboarder.  I also co-founded a wakeboarding festival called the WICed Fest.  It has since turned into an annual snowboard trip.  This year was our 18th annual trip.

The boys on this trip have truly become my “brothers from other mothers.”  I’ve been in some of their weddings, some of them were in mine.  I’m referred to as “Uncle Dan” by their kids and so on.

We headed up to Burke Mountain in Burke, VT.  Unfortunately, we hit some pretty bad weather.  It rained during our trip and that caused not only icy conditions but delayed openings.  That was OK though since it is one of the only times every year where we all see each other.  We got to hang out and catch up.  Good time overall.

Blog Work

I kept the blog rolling this week with a guest post about the kind of tactical gear you wish you had.  It was an interesting piece but I’m not sure that’s where the blog should be going.

Let me know if the comments if you like this kind of article or if you’d rather I concentrate on other topics.

Next Week’s Goals

This coming week will be interesting.  Early on in the trip, I took a fall and really bruised my tailbone (perhaps broke it).  I’ve been icing and using Dr. Christopher’s Formula Complete Tissue and Bone Ointment.  It was recommended by Jack Spirko on The Survival Podcast so we’ll see how it work.  Regardless, the fall is limiting what I can do around the house.  I think this week will be more planning than work.

I’m going to go through my seeds and finalize the garden plans.  The place should be complete by the end of the week and any necessary seeds on order.  I might even start some of my seeds this week as well.

The blog will continue to have an original article on Tuesday and a wrap-up on Friday.

Long Term Plans

I’m still looking at the shed as a long-term project.  It will probably sit until the next time my father is down.  His advice on the inside and outside conditions will be paramount to exactly what we’ll do to it.  But, rest assured, I’ll keep you in the loop and will probably document it all.

Week 4 is in the books everyone!  Can you believe it? Almost a full month already gone in 2017.

What projects around the Suburban Steader Homestead would you like to see me tackle in 2017? Let me know in the comments!

Week 3 of 2017 has been a busy one around the Suburban Steader Homestead.  I’ve been gearing up for a trip north next week.  Part of that preparation is getting my vehicle in shape for the trip and also getting the homestead squared away for my ladies in my absence.  Come find out what my week has looked like.

This Week’s Milestones

If last week was a quiet week, this week has been a loud week.  I spent a lot of time getting stuff squared away, and still have some to do, before my trip next week.

Vehicle Preparation

As mentioned in the introduction, I spent some time getting my vehicle in shape for my trip north.  The first thing I did was get an inspection.  I’m embarrassed to admit that I was about two months overdue on that one.  I just never remember to get it done.  Fortunately, I have a relatively new vehicle (bought it new in late 2015) and put very few miles on it so there was no problem passing the inspection.

The second thing I did for my vehicle was put a tonneau cover on my pickup.  Here’s a picture of the finished product:

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I chose a Lund 958173 Genesis Elite Tri-Fold Tonneau Cover.  There were a few reasons I picked it.  Primarily was the brand.  Lund has a good history in the tonneau cover market and I look for quality in equipment for my vehicles.  I totally live by the “Cry once, buy once” mentality.  Second, the reviews on Amazon were good.  It gets 4.6/5 stars.  The tri-fold design is something I like because I want access without taking it off at times.  Finally, this cover was Prime eligible which means I got it in a few days.  Can’t complain about that!  Overall, I like the cover a lot and think it’s a good addition to the truck.

Finally, I went through my truck and checked my preps.  I have a shovel (more on that later), tow straps, jumper cables, tool kit, a first aid kit and some winter survival items (shelter, blanket, boots, clothes, etc) in case I get stranded.  The one thing I don’t have in my truck is a converter.  While I really want one, I don’t view that as a necessity on the road.  The only electrical needs I have on the road are my phone and I can charge that through the USB outlet or the 12VDC outlet (I have a plug-in adapter).  I feel pretty confident in handling anything the winter can throw at me.

Household Preparation

It was time to get the house in order once the truck work was done.  I started with taking down the Christmas lights.  They always seem to go down faster than they go up!

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Then it was on to knocking out a bunch of the honey-dos.  I won’t bore you with the details, but I did caulk some windows – we’ve been feeling some drafts – and square away a few items.  The most important thing I did was not so much of a prep or improvement around the house.  It was a simple task that took very little time – I cleaned off my nightstand and bureau top.  I fully admit that I’m a pack-rat of sorts and the Mrs has been on my case for a month or so to get it straightened up.  My nightstand is swamped with books (most of which I’m reading for review on the site) and my bureau top is a catch-all with my EDC stuff and whatever other crap is in my pockets.

Well, they’re both clean now and the Mrs is happy – so double win on my part.

I still have a few clean-up items to get done before I leave which include getting the snowblower ready to roll and making sure there is fuel ready in case the ladies get snowed in during my absence.

Blog Work

The blog schedule has been maintained this week with a post reviewing the Survival Hax Survival Shovel.  I also made a video review of it here:

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I had pre-scheduled a post for next week, so I didn’t have a lot of work on the site this week but, do not fear, I’ll be checking in as much as possible while I’m gone.

Next Week’s Goals

Next week will be an interesting week since I’ll be on the road for most of it.  Obviously, I won’t be getting a lot done around the Suburban Steader Homestead.  The family is in the processing of “blessing” the planting schedule.  What I mean by that is we all review it at the beginning of the year and agree on what we want to grow.  Some items are experimental, some of the standbys.  We base our decisions on what’s grown well in the past and what we like.  I think we’re going to keep it fairly low-key this year and really concentrate on items we use (that probably means no brussel sprouts).  I’m hoping to get onions started next weekend, but we’ll see.

The blog front will maintain its current schedule with a post coming out next Tuesday and a weekly review scheduled for next Friday.  There’s a good chance the weekly review will be delayed a day since I’m traveling and may not get to it in time.  We’ll see.  I won’t leave you in the lurch though – you will get a weekly update.

Long Term Plans

The early season planting is still in the Long Term plan list but it’s quickly moving its way forward.  I’ll be planting some stuff soon and will take you along for the ride when I do that.  I’ve also been toying with the idea of providing drip irrigation to my beds.  It would involve some major earthworks around the home to run water to my beds.  I’d probably also run it to my shed just for convenience.  Speaking of my shed, it really needs to get shingled this year.  The roof is looking horrible and the siding is starting to fall apart.  It needs some TLC before I lose it all together.

OK,  that’s all for Week 3.  What did you think?  Did you like this article? Let me know in the comments.

Are you interested in seeing pics of my trip “real-time?” Let me know in the comments or on social media!

Two weeks of 2017 are in the books. Have of January is gone. And what have I done around the Suburban Steader homestead? The simple answer is: not much. But that’s about to change…

This Week’s Milestones

Much like last week, this week was kind of mild around the old home front. It was mostly due to two things.

First, I’m on the downhill part of a really nasty cold. This thing has run its course through our house. While I managed to hold out longer than everyone else, I was not immune to its potency. The good new is that I’m on the road to recover. And none too soon as I’ll be heading out in the next few weeks for an annual adventure – a snowboard trip I take every year with my buddies. More on that as it approaches.

The second reason I didn’t get a whole lot done around the Suburban Steader Homestead is that the lovely Mrs. Suburban Steader was travelling for work. She’s got this whole working mom / homemaker thing on lockdown. The best I can do is make sure the fire department doesn’t show up when she’s out of town (it happened once, true story).

Despite these two setbacks, I was able to get a few things done. I spent some time in the woods this past weekend testing out the Survival Hax Survival Shovel. There’s a video and a write-up on that coming next week. Most importantly, though, I was able to spend some quality time in the woods enjoying the quiet solitude that comes before a big snowstorm. I just love woods time and wish I could get more of it.

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The rest of the week was spent getting the homestead in order for and then removing the snow we got over the weekend. All in all, we got about 6-8” of very light and fluffy snow.

Quick story: my snowblower is Old Faithful. I do very little maintenance on it and she starts up no problems every winter. Well, not so much this year. I couldn’t get her to turn over and had to shovel about a quarter of my driveway by hand (not fun when you’re at the pinnacle of the Death Cold) before I could get her to turn over. Eventually, she did start and I made short work of the snow. I guess I’ll have to spend some time with it this spring and do a real tune up before I put her away for the warm months. The good thing about snow – I got to play around with my four-wheel drive! Oh, and there may have been some donuts done in an empty parking lot…

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Next Week’s Goals

Next week is lining up to be a busy week. Since it’s already mid-January, I need to start planning my garden and order any seeds I need. Truth is, I’ve already started planning my garden.

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The Grow Veg Planner is a great tool and I highly recommend it to all your suburban homesteaders and gardeners out there. It’s especially useful for those of you, like me, who utilize the Square Foot Gardening Method.

I’ll also spend a lot of time tying up loose ends and doing some work on the truck since I’ll be gone the next week. I have to make sure the vehicle is in tip-top shape for the drive up to Vermont. Likewise, the home front has to be on lockdown for the Mrs and kids. I can’t have them having any problems with me that far away.

On the blog front, I’ll have the previously mentioned review coming out on Tuesday (along with a YouTube video). I’ll also be posting my Week 03 wrap-up a week from today. And, in case you’re wondering, I’ll have a new article up the week I’m gone. Not to fear, I take care of my readers!

Long Term Plans

Long terms plans haven’t really changed much – that’s probably why they’re long term plans. I’m still looking at getting the early season crops started ASAP. Hopefully by end of the month at the latest. I think I have an area set aside in the basement where I can get them going without interfering too much with my wife’s work area (or the kids’ play area).

In addition, I’ve been keeping my eyes out for a hunting class to take so I can get in on deer season at the end of the year. Those of you with a good memory may remember that I was all geared up to take one at the end of the summer and my wife broke her foot the morning I was to go. Obviously, I had to take care of priorities and a hunters safety class was secondary to making sure my better half was on the mend.

OK, so Week 02 is in the books. Did you like this article? Let me know in the comments. Also, let me know below if there’s something you want me to talk about on a weekly basis in these posts. I’m currently free-flowing these articles – almost like a journal – so there’s definitely room to shape and contort them as you all see fit!

Thanks for reading!

The first week of 2017 is upon us and it’s time to start updating you on the Suburban Steader Homestead.  I’ve been thinking quite a bit lately about what I was going to write about here and I figured I’d break it down into three things: what I did this week, what I aim to do next week and long-term projects/thoughts.  So, let’s get going!

This Week’s Milestones

This week was kind of slow.  It was a holiday week with New Year’s Day being Sunday.  That means we took it easy and relaxed.  I did get some internal work done around the homestead and knocked off a few “Honey Do’s.”  Mrs. Suburban Steader (still haven’t decided if I’m going to introduce real names here for my wife and kids) wanted some new shades hung in the third bedroom and the girls’ room.  I took care of that and, to be honest, it felt good to get the tools out again.  It’s always fun to run your drill and get your house looking nice.

Other than that, I cooked a nice Penne Alla Vodka dinner for New Year’s and taught my daughter how to make it.  She loved it!  Here’s a picture of her getting the sausage browned up:

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I also got to have breakfast with my good buddy Mike over at The Backyard Pioneer.  It’s always a good time when two like-minded guys get to bond over steak and eggs!

On the blog front, I got an article up which reviewed Jim Cobb’s book titled Prepper’s Armed Defense.  Good book overall!  And I was able to get a video review of the Kershaw Oso Sweet Pocketknife up on my YouTube channel.  It’s embedded below for your viewing pleasure!

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I didn’t do much more around the homestead other than the typical husband/father stuff.  Have to put a little plug in for one of my girls – she rocked it at her lacrosse clinic.  Definitely building up to be one of the tougher girls on my team!

I did get to play with my spokeshave a little bit in the shop.  More to just test it out than do anything with it.  I can see a few woodworking projects in the future with that toy.

Next Week’s Goals

Next week is going to be more of the same.  The weather is supposed to get worse here so I’ll probably be firing up the snowblower and making sure that works.  I’ll also be building up my gas preps since I just got another 5-gallon can in the other day.  Almost at a full year rotation.  We’ve got basketball this weekend with the kids.

On the blog front, I’ll be working on my next article (I think you guys will like it) as well as putting together a video or two.  I really like the video editing process.  Not so much the filming.  That is probably due to the fact that I don’t like seeing myself on film.

Oh, and I might wax my snowboard! Got a trip coming up I need to prep for!

Long Term Plans

I really hate this time of year – the indoor projects are boring and there’s nothing to do outside.  The gardens are asleep and it’s too early to plant seedlings.  That being said, I need to look into onions soon as I think I need to get them going.  With the basement remodel we just went through, I lost my seed starting area.  I’m going to have to figure out where that’s going to go and how to get it setup.  More fun.

At this point, the long-term plans involve continuing/finishing our interior remodel – we have a few small touches left in the basement – and planning for spring.  I have to figure out what I’m going to plant this year!

OK, so that’s it! The first week of 2017 is in the books and, despite any blockbuster announcements, it’s been a good one.  I’m looking forward to what this year will bring and how this site will grow.

Did you like this article? Let me know in the comments.  Also, let me know below if there’s something you want me to talk about on a weekly basis in these posts.  I’m currently free-flowing these articles – almost like a journal – so there’s definitely room to shape and contort them as you all see fit!

Thanks for reading!

Suburban Steader had a hell of a 2016.  I want to spend a little time going through what changes the site went through, some of our successes, some of our failures and a bit about what the future holds.  Overall, 2016 was a good year for the site and, more importantly, for the Suburban Steader Homestead and family.

2016  Stats and Milestones

First things first, let’s take a look at some of the stats from 2016 and compare them to 2015.  This post is going live on December 29^th so these numbers are fairly accurate for the whole year.

As you can see, Suburban Steader saw growth on all fronts.  I’m most happy with the social media growth that’s occurred.

Twitter, YouTube and Pinterest are all organic growth – I’ve done very little to grow Suburban Steaders followings in those places.

Facebook, while being the smallest percentage growth, has been where I’ve spent most of my time growing the audience (I did add 400 followers).  The reason for this is that Facebook, far and away, is the most productive social media driver to the website.

Instagram is a new social media account I took on this year and, while there’s a fairly small following, it’s an active following.  I don’t have any stats, but I definitely get more interaction with Instagram posts than any other.

The site, while the numbers are up fairly well, is nowhere near where I want it to be and that has most everything to do with my lack of consistency posting.  In fact, it’s embarrassing to admit that I published twenty-six (26) posts in 2015 and only fourteen (14) in 2016.

Most importantly, however, is that 2016 was the first year that Suburban Steader was self-supporting.  The site didn’t make a lot of money, but it did make enough to cover all the costs associated with running a blog.  And, for that, I’m quite thankful.

What To Expect In 2017

People spend a lot of time reflecting on the year gone by and making grand plans for the year to come this time of year.  I suppose I’m not different.  I had mixed emotions on 2016 – Suburban Steader saw better numbers across the board, but site upkeep and product creation was down.

Much like everyone e;se, I view 2017 as a new slate and have some plans to grow the site and extend the brand a bit

Blog Goals

Personalize The Blog

I feel like the blog is losing its voice, so to speak, and want to fix that.  I think bringing more of my personality back to it will help elevate the quality of the writing and bring a more centered voice to the site.  The other thing I’m going to concentrate on with regard to this topic is to use “I” more and “we” less.  This site is not a conglomerate of people.  It’s one guy busting his butt to make it all work and I think it’s time I own that fact!

Post Weekly

I’ve been thinking a lot about how to accomplish this goal and believe I’ve hit on a plan.  2017 will be the year of the Suburban Steader Homestead Review.  I’ll write a weekly piece about the goings on at the Suburban Steader Homestead.  Not only will this approach cause me to publish weekly, but it will also chronicle a year in the life of a suburban homesteader.  Articles in addition to this update will be published as appropriate.  The goal will be one article and one update per week, but I’m not going to promise a standalone article per week right now.

Social Media Goals

Facebook

Facebook has been on a slow, steady climb.  I’ve had about 10% growth in 2016 and, while that’s not bad, I’d like to see more.  I’d be ecstatic if I broke into 10,000 followers next year (yes, that’s over 125% growth) but I realize the chances of that are slim.  I do think that keeping my nose to the grindstone and pumping out content on a regular basis will help grow the site organically, however.

Twitter

I’ve never been a big Twitter user and any growth I’ve experienced has been completely haphazard and organic.  I will continue this approach as I’m not seeing a lot of engagement on this outlet.  Essentially, that means that I’ll keep sharing on this platform on a daily basis but there probably won’t be a lot of interaction past that.

Google+

Google+ has shown to be almost a waste of time.  If not for the fact that I can simultaneously post to Google+ and Twitter, I’d probably not post there at all.  Unless something changes on this platform, I won’t be spending a lot of my time there.  Much like Twitter, that means that I’ll keep sharing on this platform on a daily basis but there probably won’t be a lot of interaction past that.

YouTube

YouTube is one of my two main goals in 2017 when it comes to social media.  I will not commit to a regularly scheduled video but I will say that I intend on posting more videos in 2017 than I’ve ever posted before.  I believe the engagement is worth it and I also like the fact that it’s a creative process – scripting, filming, editing and producing.  Definite skill sets that I want to gain and also a way for my viewers and followers to gain knowledge.

Pinterest

I have a love-hate infatuation with Pinterest.  When I need something, it’s a great resource, but it’s not a place I like to spend a lot of time.  I find the mobile interface clunky and personally prefer Instagram and YouTube to it.  I’ll continue to post there when a blog post goes up and I’ll also post when the mood strikes.  The traffic bump may be enough to make me entertain more time on the platform.

Instagram

Instagram – my social media drug of choice lately.  I love the pictures you can find and the speed of interaction is just terrific.  I can honestly say that if I had to pick just one social media platform to use going forward, it would be Instagram.  And, to that end, I need to be more of contributor and not just a lurker.  Instagram participation will increase in 2017 – the end goal will be for me to be posting at least once a day.  I don’t think it’s going to be a big driver to the blog but A) I could be wrong and B) it doesn’t matter.  The community interaction is what I’m after.

Wrap Up

First, I want to thank each and every one of you.  Without my readers and social media followers, Suburban Steader would just be a diary of sorts.  It’s all of you that make this site, and its social media accounts, what they are.

I want you to know that I fully intend to re-up my commitment for this project in 2017 but I need your help.  Keep reaching out to me and letting me know what you want.

More product reviews? What kind? More how-to’s? For what skills? More general theory articles? What topics?

This site is only as good as its readers and I know I have some of the best readers out there.  Help me grow it into the wealth of knowledge I know it can be!

Wishing you all a Happy New Year! Many blessings and good fortune in 2017!