I read somewhere that sometimes trying to create a change or, as some say, having the universe tell you to change, that the indications will come in the form of some kind of pain. The idea that in order to make the change happen, give one determination and to help ensure that it has staying power, one must become so uncomfortable with the current situation that change must happen. I do believe that I we are getting that sort of message.

The next evolution in this great farm adventure is a powering down to a more residential speed limit from the full on throttle of the expressway that has been going on for more than 10 years.

The farm has come along in stages. I have written and spoken with others about the concept of entering “The Last Third” of our lives now that Zina and I have both entered our 60’s. All of the work going forward is now to simplify into our eventual retirement (Zina said I never retired. I just changed jobs). I know from several indications (including my wife’s demeanor – gasp!) that we are entering that phase of our homestead lifestyle. Also, and just as importantly (and it affects my moods as well) is that my body is pretty beat up. I am arthritic from my neck to my ankles. My breakfast friends have named that particular pain inflictor, Arthur (Arthur – itis). It can make life pretty unbearable. The inflammation makes things flair up and all I want to do is sit. Throwing 2000 lbs. of feed bags in a day is getting pretty ridiculous. Therefore, it is time to position ourselves for the phase of enjoyment and contentment in the Shire that we spent so long creating.

Phase 1 of the farm was, of course, to build it. I was compelled by a vision of what it should look like so that it could do almost anything we wished. Check that off the list. Mission accomplished.

Phase 2 was to have all of the rural preps (beyond food and water) available so that we could be safe out here in the sticks from injury, health issues, power outages and storms. Check.

Phase 3 was to use the farm to not only feed us but to feed us into the future. As they say in survivalist parlance, “Stack it to the rafters.” We learned how to dehydrate, can, freeze, ferment, dry pack and freeze dry. The freeze dryer was a game changer. Nothing from the gardens goes to waste anymore. Check. Next was to figure out the best way here to do water catchment. I would still love a below ground cistern, but given that Zina is now in charge of the home renovation projects, the tanks I have will have to suffice. We did find that by putting a livestock water trough heater in the 1000 gallon tank that we were able to keep it from freezing, which could have ruptured the valve that is used as a faucet. There is more to do, but as you will read, we now are to one step at a time and are eliminating the frantic pace of farm construction multitasking. As Tom Brady said after his last game of the season, “I am retiring…. This time for real.”

So now we are on to Phase 4. This stage is the move to simplify, de-clutter and to live at the level of a simmer instead of a full roiling boil; enjoyment instead of prepping and building. This is something I wish I could tell the younger families that have launched out on this homesteading journey. This kind of project can consume you. That isn’t a bad thing considering the screen mesmerized zombies of suburbia, but you MUST be able to see there being an end game to this craziness, or crazy is what it will drive you to become. You need to be able to see where it all ends up eventually so that all the pieces add up to a whole picture instead of a hodgepodge of things that don’t tie together. Planning is as important as having.

Sure, repairs will always be needed and things will need to be maintained, but the build out phase will and must end.

The accumulation phase will also end. If you keep piling things up for different tasks you will never be able to become the master of any of it. You will also have enough and you need to know what that level is. Defensive tools and gates, etc. are finite and will simply need to be maintained. Your pantry will also be filled at some point simply because no one has infinite space. Use it, and when needed, rotate it and replenish it. Use your gardens and buy in bulk to keep things leveled off, but at some point, it will be enough. Use water tank systems to hold water and cycle it out just like the food. Know how to purify it and have filtration systems. We hold around 1100 gallons currently and use the barn roof to catch more. Living in a drought prone area of the country makes this something of a necessity.

This does NOT constitute a complete life – unless of course you lack imagination. If you live this 24/7 I wouldn’t consider you a homesteader or even a simple a hobby farmer, I would classify you as a kind of a first class tinfoil hat wearing prepper. Hyper-vigilance about the crazy state of affairs in the world is one thing, an inability to create, thrive and live contentedly as a result of your efforts is quite another. If you can’t do that… what then is the point?

So our phase 4 then is to focus on the things that give our lives meaning and contentment; to use all of these prepper and homesteading skills (which are, in themselves, significant) to allow for what everyone in this country is always yammering on about: Freedom and Liberty – and I would add even as importantly – creativity and self-expression. Use your off – grid life to do the things in life that you love, without the complete despondence for and complete dependence on, a system that has proven time and time again to not care one bit about you. Use the farmstead, not hide like a scared mouse. Use it to break free of that which Kurt Anderson coined, “The Fantasy Industrial Complex” that you embarked upon all these years ago to escape. Create your safe place, then exploit that safety and self-sufficiency to live a life of purpose and contentment. You get to choose what that is. This is how the creative spirit (or just my receptive brain hating bodily pain) sorted things out for us; taking a roiling boil down to a self-sustaining simmer.

You see, in our case, knowing how to raise and store our own food doesn’t mean that it has to be all consuming in scope. It can be taken back up at any time and for any reason, especially if we see the shelves becoming too thin. It is ok if some of our pastures lay fallow or that the pig pens don’t always have pigs in them. We can do it again in the blink of an eye. It’s not like we will forget how. We are simply choosing to switch to other more creative elements of our lives. So the work this year will still be a LOT of work. It is just to decommission some of it to make way for other things. The turkeys need to be processed along with the stewing birds (all of which got delayed because of this pretty harsh winter we have been in). The layer flock will always need tending (and given the egg shortages is more valuable than the mutual funds I used to utilize)

The pigs, because of the cost of feed now, need to be reduced and then zero’d. BUT, as I say this to the younger of us venturing out, all of these meat and protein sources can be hatched out again or acquired from other breeders whenever we need to. If handled properly, just these sources I mentioned will be a year or more worth of food. I will likely end up freeze drying at least one whole pig. In addition, the greenhouse needs repairing so the gardens will be lighter this year. I do really enjoy having the goats for cheese and soap making so that will be ongoing. The house and the garage need arranging and de-cluttering. But as you can see, all of this is leading to the slow simmer, down from the boiling urgency of the past 10 years. Each subsequent task accomplished should lessen the ongoing tasks overall, thus bringing us down the highway off ramp, feeling the tension release of slowing down and getting back to the residential speed limits of an every day life. Interestingly though, it should still provide us with all the food we need and as such, keep all of this inflation under control. We have the bugs worked out of all of this. Younger homesteaders….. learn from your elders so that you don’t become yet just another flash in the pan.

Zina, WAY more than me, needs more social interaction (Nothing that I can provide). She has also toyed with volunteering, outdoor photography, and seems to have a knack for quilting. Anything hobby-wise works, but it is time to make space for such things. So we are moving to a reduction of some tasks and expenses (pig feed) that once served us so well, but that can now be put on a shelf to be brought back down when needed.

For my part, I need to feel more creative and also feel attentive to the gardens in preference over the livestock for awhile. I toyed with the idea of spinning yarn, but I don’t knit or crochet so I would need to learn how to spin for weaving. That is possible, so we will see if that evolves. In addition to my existing floor loom, I have a curiosity about tapestry weaving – specifically Navajo rugs, so the learning curve here would be never ending. I would also like to produce enough weaving textiles to have inventory to go to local craft fairs. I want to get out my telescopes again. Archery is done I fear. My shoulders hurt too much on an ongoing basis to subject them to that kind of pressure. Cooking and food storage goes without saying. It is one of my talents and it helps to fill the creative spirit niche that we are after here. I will also continue on with my herbalism studies. I have found it to be a lot of fun and quite interesting. I have in my head to build a smokehouse using an old wood stove we have and I love the idea of doing some Permaculture landscaping too. In all of this though, simply going for a walk with the dogs would be enough of a de-stressor to clear my head.

So to those who have asked just how long we think we can keep this up, you were asking the wrong question. The question is, how are you going to “live” at the farm once all the phases have been completed? The answer is that we are here. This new phase – to make the space and physical surroundings for the hobbies and creative endeavors we want in our lives – is here. Right now it is in about a year long transition, but transition it will. Things happen when you develop a plan and then work it. It has been the story of my career and of the farm creation. None of this happened by hook or by crook. If you aim at nothing, nothing is exactly what you will hit.. or worse yet, hit something you didn’t intend. We created a space of safety and self-sufficiency because the writing is sprayed in bright hunter orange all over the walls. Now we can use this behemoth we created to support a contented life in the last third to the highest extent possible. The last phase: Creating Space, is no small task; but it creates a clear vision of what we have been working toward for these strange and adventurous 10 years. After all, if you don’t have an end game to all of this, why bother? 11 years ago we sat on the porch of this dump and Zina said she could really see us retiring here. All of these phases have been the lead up to that point. Far be it for me to let her down.

Today is December 4th, 2021. Happy ninth birthday JAZ Farm! What a year this place has seen. I am sure that most of you are feeling some of the exhaustion from the myriad issues that seem to all be converging all at one time in our lives. While yes things have been tumultuous, the farm has continued to provide projects, entertainment, sustenance, and peace in a world that has become certifiably insane. We won’t get into any of that here, but most of you who know me know that I do not ascribe to the common political and economic narratives that get thrown around at each other like so much worthless confetti. We live in a troubling age and we are so thankful that we made the decision to build this place and use it as our own family Shire against all the Orcs and Goblins that seem to inhabit the “civilized” world.

It is hard to believe that 9 years have passed. Not only has the farm changed since its inception as a dilapidated house on 40 acres, the surrounding area has seen massive changes as well. Sure, we can wax poetically that these things happen, but given my propensity to be able to connect dots and come to pretty accurate conclusions, it seems that forces have been set in motion that will see the start of significant exoduses from the urban and suburban world as people see the writing on the wall and understand the need to escape to more rural areas or places that will let them provide for a certain amount of self-sufficiency. For those who have done it here, you have my support. We are now one of the elder statesmen on our road. Because of the insane and meteoric rise of real estate prices, folks are selling out left and right (I guess if I had any sense we might do the same, but that isn’t why we moved here and built the Shire). People who never thought they would see a financial boon like this have been cashing out with hundreds of thousands in profit and moving to cheaper states, where, they say, they can live like they do now but with no mortgage and significantly cheaper costs of living. But what that means, however, is that for every seller there is a buyer and there are buyers in spades. After 9 years of practically no sounds coming from our neighbor to the south we now have loud music, gunfire, and now the introduction of their livestock (I only resent 2 of the 3). This has been a theme throughout the community. We all wish that the city folks that bit the bullet and moved would have left the city behind. Oh well, they will calm down eventually I guess. Interstate 70 is the main artery from us into Denver and the development has been following that corridor like a virus. The concerning issues with this have to do with the availability of water, and the digging up of wheat and cornfields to create this Oasis of suburbs in the countryside. I told Zina that other day that if we keep moving east to escape these Zombies, we will wind up in Kansas. The primary constant of the universe is that nothing stays the same. It is understanding these changes that prompted much of what we did here on the farm this year and is informing how we live here going forward.

THE COMPLETION OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE:

As you know, if you have been following along for any amount of time, the idea that I actually “retired” was a joke. I quit my job for any number of reasons, but at the age of 50 I became a farm construction engineer. Up until just a post or two ago, the physical labor involved with the farm design continued unabated and would have bested some folks half my age. Not only did we complete all the paddocks and pens we hoped to have, my body was there, towards the end, letting me know that it indeed was over and that I best not come up with any more cockamamy ideas. 2021 began with our finishing out our garden fencing, fencing in a second 5 acre grazing pasture, then enclosing the whole place along the back and south side with yet more fence (This last one being a way to feel like it had become a completed enclosure). It also allowed us to let the dogs out without having to wonder where the hell they went. They now have a good 5 acres to run around in.

As part of our effort to be as self-sufficient as possible we brought in a couple of American Guinea Hogs to breed. They are the most docile of animals, loving ear scratches and tummy rubs. As they will eat most anything, including grass, they are pretty low maintenance. However, it is ironic that if you leave the males and females together, their propensity to breed goes way down! We had two boars and 3 gilts (females) together and they put each other in the “friend zone”. No babies. So upon some advice and research we separated them like we have the bucks and does of our goat herd. We will probably try in early spring to breed them but in the meantime we had to have a place to put the boys. So this prompted the last small fencing project as seen above. You can see in posts from years ago that the space we have used was our original vegetable garden. It was already fenced on three sides so all I had to do was enclose it on the 4th and add a gate. It should have been a piece of cake, except the drought we have been in baked the ground to cement and I had a devil of a time getting the auger into the ground and ended up dulling it and having to replace the corkscrew unit that actually digs the hole. After pounding in the last of the metal posts, I limped away promising myself and Zina that the days of building fences have indeed become a thing of the past. All of it looks spectacular if you have an eye for such things; But one of my to do lists for this winter is to clean and straighten the garage and put all of the banging and clanking devices in their proper places and leave them to gather dust.

CLEAN UP:

To kind of punctuate the completion of all the construction, it was time to clean the place up. 9 years of building and adjusting accumulates a lot of remnants and crap. We called and had a roll off dumpster brought in and loaded the thing to the gills. If any of you have any experience with farms or ranches, you undoubtably have seen the boneyard junk piles that can accumulate on them. Some of them are hideous and show a certain level of slobbery that we didn’t want here. Old rolls of windbreak fencing, fencing remnants, sawed off sections of wood, and all manner of things no longer needed, were bid farewell. While I hate the idea of using the landfill, there were precious few options. We could have burned off a lot of the wood things, but because of the drought there has been a never ending burn ban, so off it went. It will likely be the only time we will need to do this and considering the amount of waste that is generated simply from people buying too much plastic, breakable and unwanted crap, I figure we are still much farther ahead.

SECURITY:

We value our privacy and security here almost as much as our ability to sustain ourselves. While the fencing was mostly to house and pasture our animals, the last close off to our east gave a feeling of completion. For some additional security (and to close off the last escape avenues for the dogs) Aaron and I installed an automatic gate opener/closer on the entrance gates. It was super easy to install and when it closes, it has something called a “Zombie Lock” that locks the two sections of gates together that can only be opened either with a key or one of the remotes. It is so nice to be able to go in and out and have the gates close behind you without having to get out of the truck and manually latch them. It is much the same as people that have automatic garage door openers. It is secure and very convenient. Well worth the money. If anyone is interested, the company we used is Ghost Controls. They work great even on our oversized ranch gates.

THE YEAR OF THE VET:

As you know, we lost our oldest lab (Basil) in August, but that was only one of several animal issues. We have been in to the vet and had the vet come out on several occasions. Our youngest lab had bladder issues, we had one of our baby goats break a back leg and we had a pig go lame with arthritis in her front ankles. Sage is fine, Basil died, Rosemary the goat healed up and Petunia the pig became bacon. Life on the farm. Just recently, we had the vet out again to have the donkey’s teeth brushed. This is called a “full float.” They give them some pretty happy drugs to sedate them. This proved to be a rodeo as they didn’t like the idea of being poked. It is intravenous so it is something they really don’t want to be a part of . Donavan, the youngest, had to have a dose for a full sized horse. Once sedated they have their head lifted with a rope, a bit put in their mouths to open it and then the vet uses a cordless drill (DeWalt) with a grinding device on it to smooth out the back teeth and remove any spikes. If the teeth get too rough it can cause abrasions in their mouth and get all infected and all sorts of other happiness. They pulled through without a hitch and it gave the young vet some experience. Fortunately, she had two techs with her and me. We were able to keep them relatively stabile so she could do her magic. Now the boys are good for another couple of years. It was nice to have them compliment us on how good our stalls and pens look. They said they have seen some pretty bad places.

All of the rest of the animals are doing great. We have rethought the way of raising our turkeys so we will be re-arranging their coop. For various reasons, hatching them doesn’t seem to be a good option, so we will just order them from the hatchery every year. We have hatched them before, but the hatch rate is ridiculously low. We have excellent incubators so it appears that the Tom’s just ain’t up to the task. We have hatched more layer chicks and they will fill in the gaps as our current girls are getting along in age. This past molt saw them stop laying altogether. These new ones should be old enough and laying come spring. The pigs are as happy as can be and seriously only care about food and the occasional scratching. We bred three of our goats in September. We should have babies sometime in February. We are getting to the point where we need to look into selling them. Between the bucks and the does, we have 13 head. They are eating machines so we certainly don’t need more. Fortunately, with all the new urban and suburban farming happening because of the pandemic and the economy crumbling, baby Nigerians fetch a pretty good price. Also, 4H is always looking for animals for the kids to raise. Our cheese making has been a fabulous success. We just had some cheddar that had aged 6 months and it was amazing. There are always tweaks to learn, but at this stage, we are impressed. We also built a goat breeding pen and then constructed a playhouse for them to hang out in. We got the idea from a You Tube channel we follow and the goats seem to love it. It is an A frame construction that gives them all manner of ways to jump and play. It also gives the does a way to escape should the buck get a little to aggressive.

THE GARDENS:

Without having to show you yet more pictures of baskets of produce and jars or preserved stuff, suffice it to say that the gardens, yet again, performed admirably. We made a switch to growing both the tomatoes and peppers in the greenhouse. The peppers seemed to approve and we ended up having them coming out of our ears. Our Asparagus forest went crazy and again we were able to harvest a few hundred pounds of potatoes.

Because of the faux supply chain crisis and because it seems that everyone learned to can in 2020, Ball canning lids became almost unobtainable. We have a pretty large store of them, but because of not knowing how long the shortage would last, we investigated our options. We had currently been freezing, dehydrating and canning as much as we could. From some videos and articles, we happened upon a company called Harvest Right. They are one of the only manufacturers of household use Freeze Dryers. If you have ever gone backpacking you are undoubtably familiar with freeze dried meals from companies like Mountain House, Legacy, Augustan Farms, Thrive life, etc. They are great food storage options but a freeze dryer lets you store your own. We purchased their medium sized unit and the thing has been running non-stop since we got it. It is absolutely amazing how many things you can freeze dry. If stored properly the vegetables can last for up to 25 years. Because it can all be put through the machine, we have had virtually no waste from spoilage out of the garden. We have freeze dried bushels of beans, eggplant, ground turkey meat, potatoes, onions, cheese, fruit and things I am probably forgetting at the moment. For we homesteaders, this thing is a game changer. Oh yes, tomatoes. I wish I had gotten the larger unit, but this thing is serving us very well.

SO WHAT IS NEXT?

That brings us to today, the end of the year. As I write this it is about 70 degrees. I just got back from the store wearing shorts, a T-shirt and Crocs. This weather is insane. Denver broke a record of over 225 days with no measurable snowfall. It is dust bowl era dry here and yet Hawaii is expecting a foot of snow and 100 mph winds. After having been out of the drought for a spell, we are now in an “extreme drought” according to NOAA and the USDA. This is a bit scary. While we have good water with our well, I will be ramping up the creation of our rooftop water catchment system. We had an issue (now resolved) with our solar system and battery back up. Should that system go down, as our well pump is electric, we would not have water. Sure the humans can get water and we have an apartment in the city, but watering the animals would become a significant issue. We have so screwed things up as a species that the north and east are bracing for a very snowy and cold winter and we are wondering if it will ever freeze. I still have Broccoli growing in the gardens and I have had to regularly water the apple trees, Blackberries, Asparagus and Garlic. Our solar guy said that not only did he wish more people had systems like ours, he wished more people would choose to live like we do. I have always been open to teaching these techniques but I largely get silence with just crickets in the background.

BUT!

As I stated earlier, nothing stays the same. The economy is collapsing, fuel and food prices are sky-rocketing and home heating is supposed to get out of hand. There are predictions of propane and natural gas shortages. The specter of the issues like happened in Texas last year, have the potential to spread everywhere. We are a nation under siege and I wish my giant YAWP into the universe would actually yield some results. But, alas, the Siren’s song of golf, theaters, malls, new cars, fast food, and shiny things, call too loudly and we are indeed screwed. So all we can. do is just live our lives and ignore the noise and criticism of others.

The one dependency I have always wanted to be rid of is propane delivery. While we are not tied to a natural gas line, some shmoe has to come out a couple of times a year and fill our propane tank. Given that we have been warned all over the country that propane shortages could indeed be a thing, and that our furnace runs on it, we decided this needed to be remedied. I am not going to get into the details of the BS we have endured trying to buy and install this thing (same as everything else we have had someone else do here), but we invested in a wood burning stove. It will be our primary heating source and the gas furnace will be set at about 50 degrees just to ensure that we don’t have issues with freezing pipes should there be no fire. We have about 10 cords of wood out back and the final installation (after having to report them to the BBB) will likely happen this coming week. That will be a relief. We found out through experience that while our battery back ups can run the furnace turbine if the power goes out, it can’t do it all night. So this way we will lower our propane consumption, take the burden off of the batteries and allow us the ambience of a fire and its soothing heat. We could probably be completely off of propane if we had a solar hot water system so if you are so inclined to do a Go Fund Me for the farm, we would appreciate it greatly! LOL.

2022

As far as the rest of the world is concerned, it ain’t lookin’ pretty. The economy is in shambles and is only being held up by corporate share buy-backs and insane Fed money printing. People are leaving abusive employment in droves. The pandemic and inflation (being created by the fed) is taxing people’s purchasing ability to the hilt. Food shortages are starting to hit home and all that cheap Chinese crap everyone seems to like to buy at Walmart is languishing in a mathematically unsolvable problem called “The Whiplash Effect;” not to mention the many flying penises being launched into space who’s worth could solve world hunger. There is no way we will ever see pre-2019 “normal” again. Given the droughts and major climactic events, we will be lucky to have anything resembling a functional eco-system ever again. Here, let me just tell you where I am….. There will be precious few humans alive on this rock in about 10 years. You go ahead and live in denial. The data favors me.

So given this rosie news, I simply won’t involve myself in politics and social issues. They are pointless. I will help others as I can but I am not a crusader. If people want help doing what we do they need to seek us out. If not, it is nothing but a circus side show. I have my popcorn and a good seat. Bring on the show.

On a personal and familial note, we are indeed done building. The 10th year of the farm will be transitional, hopefully leading to a whole new life paradigm. We will be living the farm life always looking to de-stress and find peace. In my case, I have bent to the whim and scapegoating of sick people enough in my life. My family owes no one, including other family or anyone else. We did the virtuous thing and the kill ourselves thing to please others long enough. As we move into our sixties, the farm will be our oasis, our Shire, our place of reclusion and peace. The 10th year will help us to transition to this life, hanging up post drivers and screw drivers and hammers and pick up feed bags, hoes and hay. We will live and love and move away from this insane society and culture. In a philosophical/spiritual sense it is a death and rebirth. Personally, I am walking away from our virus of a species. I don’t have many in-person friends anyway and I have no desire to interact with the insanity that this abusive culture is inflicting on it’s citizens. There is peace in reclusion. There is virtue in being a hermit. There is love in being a hobbit. Animals love in a way that humans are incapable of. Nature heals, civilization destroys and if I have to die a hermit refusing to participate in a diagnosably mentally ill society then I am willing to do so either by natural or personally chosen ways. I am saying goodbye to all things except my efforts to heal our little piece of Mother Earth. We are at the toxic end of a badly damaged and corrupt empire. I refuse to participate anymore. I hope that my life not only helps to heal, but that it makes a statement. I hope from a personal note that this will rebalance me after a lifetime of abuse and living in survival mode. I gave enough to everyone. My wife has done the same. We now will work on healing ourselves and loving each other throughout the time we have left. JAZ Farm is our safe haven. She deserves our care and I am sure, she will care for us.