Category: Homestead
Blog posts or photos that have to do with homesteading in the rural Ozarks of northwest Arkansas.
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Homestead Work
We’ve been busy doing a lot of outdoor homestead work since we came home from our gold panning trip to Colorado. That’s why there’s been no recent posts from me. The weather has been atrociously hot and I’m just too …
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Avoiding Burnout: Fun Days at Wild Ozark
Avoiding Burnout Anyone who has ever tried to build a homesteading life will know it’s a tremendous amount of work. So we also work at avoiding burnout. The list of things on the “to do” list is so long, our …
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Busy Burning Coffee Days at Wild Ozark
My efforts at multitasking yesterday ended with flames, billowing smoke and the awful scent of burnt coffee beans. Surprisingly, I did not stop to get a picture of this event to document it for this post. At first there weren’t …
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Photos of Plants – Medicinal & Useful plants down the Wild Ozark Driveway
I’m still mostly stuck in the house because of my knee (dislocated it a little over a week ago) but I took the four-wheeler and camera down the driveway to get a few photos of plants unfurling or coming into …
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How to move a round bale without a hay spike by using the front-end loader instead.
I’ve been using a chain with the tractor and front end loader to move round bales to the horses. We don’t have a hay spike or fork attachment. This how-to assumes you have a tractor with a front end loader …
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Coyotes at Midnight
I had trouble getting to sleep last night. Then there were coyotes at midnight, just as the drift of dreams was beginning to take hold. It went on for so long I had time to turn on the audio recorder …
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Repairing Our Wild Ozark Spring Water Line
Today I repaired our Wild Ozark spring water line Since I’ve learned how to do this myself, I figured I’d do it while Mr. Wild Ozark was at work. Later this summer we have plans to change out the entire …
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A Muck Boot and Pj Kind of Day
I didn’t feel like getting out of bed this morning. It was cold in the room when I woke and I just felt lazy. But the hens clucked louder as the minutes ticked past. I knew the dogs and horses …
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A problem in our gravity feed spring water system
What is a gravity feed water system? We are fortunate to have our very own spring fed water source that runs all year long. It is a spring that pumps out enough water, without fail, to serve our household with …
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Warm Egg on a Cold Day
There is something quite satisfying about finding a warm egg in the henhouse on a blustery 15*F morning. I tried something new to help me wake up a little earlier this morning. It wasn’t until 5 a.m. when the strange …
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Exercising in Nature – or – Why it takes me an hour to walk to the mailbox and back
Exercising in nature is as easy as taking a walk to check the mail. It helps if you have a long driveway. One of my resolutions for the new year and the rest of my life is to get into …
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Did you know Osage Oranges evolved with wooly mammoths?
Osage Maclura pomifera, also known as Osage Orange, Bois d’Arc, Hedge-apple, or Horse-apple, the osage tree is native to our area. Even so, there aren’t very many of them in our particular neck of the woods. A bedraggled osage tree. …
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Killing Pretty Roosters
First I tried selling pretty roosters. Then I tried gifting pretty roosters. Yesterday we killed pretty roosters. It was my chore to pick which ones. I felt a bit like Kali (Goddess who is both giver of life and bringer …
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Looking back on 10 years of roughing it in the Ozarks – Happy Thanksgiving 2015
Many would consider us still roughing it. Life is a lot more comfortable here now, but we learned a lot about survival since we moved to these wild Ozark hills. Our Wild Ozark Origins When we first moved here to …
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Wild Ozark Nature Journal on Kindle
What is a sketch / nature journal? Sometimes nature writers like to doodle while they’re interpreting nature. My nature journal is a combination of art and written journal entry. It is both nature sketching and nature journal. Here are some sample …
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First Freeze 2015 in the Ozarks
First Freeze It was 30*F when I looked outside this morning near daybreak. Honestly, it was somewhat after daybreak. Yesterday’s fun with the grandkids wore me plumb out and I slept like a rock past my alarm. Technically, the sun …
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Symbols of Warmth and Sustenance
I brought the camera with me this foggy morning to capture some of the beauty that surrounded me in the hushed quiet of our little Wild Ozark valley. When I came back in I sat on the porch and listened …
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Feeding critters under a gentle patter of rain
This morning I was feeding critters under a gentle patter of rain. There are times when I am tired or don’t feel like going out on my regular chore round, but for the most part I enjoy this part of …
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Coffee Break Reading and some pretty cool Leggings
Get “No Qualms” delivered to your inbox in daily short bites. Perfect for coffee break reading. And check out the cool leggings featuring one of my nature journal entries. One of my passions that I haven’t indulged much in lately …
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Rain or Hallucination?
So brief it almost feels now like it was hallucination, rain fell this morning while I was out feeding the critters. The chickens were all like “what’s that wet stuff coming down from the sky?” It’s been many weeks since …
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Beautiful Fall Misty Morning
There is a silence accompanied by a misty morning that is unlike anything else. This morning I sat on the porch to have my morning coffee. The roosters refrained from crowing. The logging activity is either done or stopped for …
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The Business ‘Circle of Life’ at Wild Ozark
An older post, but still representative. Eventually I’ll update it but for now, I’ll leave it alone: This is the second year since making Wild Ozark my full-time endeavor. Over the past year, I’ve noticed a life-cycle of sorts. It’s …
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Gathering Lobelia inflata Seeds
Looking for Lobelia Today I donned a surgical mask to go out and gather the seed pods of Lobelia inflata. Why the mask? Well, it’s the time of year when ragweed tries to assault me when I go outside. I’m …
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An Herbal Hoof Poultice for a Horse
Both of our horses foundered recently and I’m not sure what caused it. I suspect there was a large fruit drop from the persimmon and plum trees after the big flood in June. The problems caused by eating something …
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Death from Above – Wasp vs Mantis
There are lots of videos at YouTube about wasp vs mantis, but they always show the mantis winning. Today I saw a wasp carrying the head of a praying mantis. I saw one yesterday, too. I’ve found lots of info …