Birch Bark Birds.com A Traveling Homestead

Chickens~Homeschooling~Gardens~ Nature~Traveling

Welcome to our Traveling Homestead! The idea of a traveling homestead seems bizarre. I am fully aware of the looks we get from a crowing rooster on a Ferry. Or the stares we receive when the back of a the Suburban lifts up so that the ducks can have a water break. It all has a perfectly good explanation, I promise. So, read on to hear about our traveling homestead.

Our family lives on Eastern Long Island. When the children were small, our neighbor dropped us off 2 little chicks. Three little ones and I brought the white bird cage inside and fell in love with Scarlet and Begonia. And so, it began. A love of keeping chickens, which has evolved into keeping game birds. I love drinking my morning coffee just watching them happily peck around. But with chickens comes the coop. Oh, the very many coop renovations we have underwent. I have to say at this momemt I have reached satisfactions with my current coop out East.

AHHHH... So why are you North? Where is the traveling you speak of???

The North I speak of is a magical place. The Adirondack Mountains. It was always our dream to have a piece of land. A chunk of the wilderness to call our own. On every camping trip North, we would investigate real estate and DREAM. We eventually found our special little cabin with 16 acres on a lake. Perfection.

At first, we just visited during school breaks and such. Our chickens were self-sufficient at home. The water heater, large food bins and automatic door made for easy travel. Pack up the dogs, the kids and we were off! Life was fun and EASY!

Not long after settling into our cabin lifestyle, we made the decision to homeschool. I paused my career as a Montessori teacher to teach my own. The amount of freedom it provided our family was astounding! So, now we were able to move North for longer and longer periods of time.

We got to work preparing a home for our flock. We were in a rush, and it was during covid. Everyone remembers the prices of lumber around that time. We decided to buy a coop from Tractor Supply. Is it ideal? No. Does it work? After some modifications, it does. For now.

OHHH, I warned you about our deep relationship with coop renovations. We put the coop together. Added some hardwire to the run area. The squares of the covered run were large. It would have worked out East but up North we have weasels. More renovations, automatic door and an electric fence to keep out the bears, our coop up North is complete. For now....

I mentioned the rooster on the ferry. The rooster has also crowed at gas stations and rest stops. Oh, the conversations it starts! At times we truly travel in a clown car. Us, the children, the dogs, turtles, lizards, guinea pigs, a sugar glider and chickens. This is not a weekly move for all the above. When we are staying for months at a time in one location, we bring our homestead family to one home. Just like we have a coop both North and East, all our pets have multiple tanks and homes. Our flock travels in very large dog crates. We match up like personalities, give them treats and they travel well.

I can talk about chickens forever. So, let's chat about gardening! I have always been partial to raised bed gardening. I just love how easy it is. I make the perfect size bed, the perfect height and the perfect soil. It's my go to garden style. Until I went North.

Gardening up North is a challenge to say the least. The growing season lasts ONE MINUTE. I'm not exaggerating. Out East we can plant in May around Mother's Day. Up North we wait for the first full moon in June to pass. I learned that fact from my wonderful neighbor. The first year, I planted all my seedlings and BOOM - snow in June. I was devasted and discouraged but not enough to give up. I found out about Straw Bale Gardening from people at the local library and a new hobby was born.

The Adirondack Mountains are just that, mountains. It's probably easier to grow rocks than anything. The soil is a rocky, sandy nothing. Straw bale gardening was the solution. Many years later, I have used old bales and have slowing grown beautiful soil for beds in my garden.

Now perhaps my favorite thing about living up North is the hard work it requires of me. Living in North Country makes you work harder, think faster and try things you never thought were possible. I had never used a log splitter, a chainsaw or driven a tractor until necessity moved me into it. Now those are my favorite things to do!

I have decided to begin writing about all these experiences to perhaps entice you to try unconventional homesteading practices. Homesteading doesn't have to be in one set location. It's a challenge at times but its oh so rewarding. It's fun to embrace the different climates, different soil and wildlife. I will be filling this blog with tons of pictures, tutorials, and some insight on so many topics. I am a carver of spoons, a crafty Montessori homeschooler, a chicken keeper, fermenter, canner, sewer, gardener, a syrup maker and builder. But mostly, I am a traveling homesteading mom!

Thank you for joing me on this journey.

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