Lucky number 7! Week 7 of 2017 is already upon us and the Suburban Steader Homestead has been a busy one. Snow really hosed up our lives for a few days and illness ran rampant through the house. But, in the end, we made progress towards the end goals of growing our garden and getting stuff done!

This Week’s Milestones

Last week was a busy week and this past week was no different. Let’s dig in!

Oh, Hell Snow!

When I last left you, we were knee deep in a Long Island blizzard. Well, when it was all said and done, we received about 18-inches of snow. And not that light, fluffy “champagne” snow you folks out in the Rockies get. This snow was that wet, heavy crap that causes blown-out backs and heart attacks. I’m embarrassed to say that I am one of those suburbanites who hasn’t upgraded to a proper snowblower. My Toro Power Clearer does not like anything more than 6-8-inches of fluffy snow. If it’s heavy and wet, that thing wants to be outside less than I do. I think it’s time to upgrade to a two-stage auger style snowblower. Time to watch the sales as it’s the right time of year.

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That being said, I did make sure to clean out the most important thing in my yard. What is that, you ask? The walkway? The stoop? Nope, the fire hydrant. The last thing I want is for my home – or my neighbors’ homes – to go up and flames and the firefighters have to dig out a fire hydrant before they can begin to fight the fire.

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Designing My Next Project

Working with the snowblower got me thinking about fuel. I subscribe to the logic of having one five gallon gas tank for every month of the year. I’m slowly building my reserve and should be done in a few months. But, they’re taking up a lot of space in my garage. I spent some time with SketchUp this past week and designed a simple to build shelving unit. It will allow me to stack the jugs and save some floor space in my garage. It’ll also look nice. I’m very much looking forward to building this unit and might even get started this coming weekend. I’ll chronicle it when I start.

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Blog Work

Articles continue to pump out at roughly one per week on the blog. I hope you all are heading over here to read them. This week, I wrote a review of Scott Finazzo’s book Prepper’s Survival Medicine Handbook. Overall, it was a great bookcase reference for when things go sideways. It’s definitely written with the thought of stabilizing the patient and getting them to advance medical care. If you’re looking for a TEOTWAWKI-type medical book, this one isn’t it. For me, there’s lot of great knowledge in there for long-trip backpacking, hunters and others who spend a lot of time in the outdoors.

Next Week’s Goals

So, my broccoli just came in this week, so I’ll be planting them this weekend. My onions are all popping up! I’m so interested in getting fresh veggies and getting away from the crap that we buy at the grocery store in the winter. That being said, my wife made a wonderful Valentine’s Day dinner with store bought broccoli. She nailed this Beef Wellington!

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The blog post next week will center around some urban survival tips. I’m liking the way it’s coming out and hope you will too.

You’ll also see more involvement with me on Pinterest in the next few weeks. I’m hoping that I can take advantage of that social media platform to drive more viewers to the site!

Long Term Plans

My long-term plans haven’t changed much, although getting my shop (garage) into order is definitely on the list. I like to do some woodworking in there and also use it as a repair shop for small engine work and whatever else rears its ugly, broken head in the household. The shed is also in the cards. The more I look at it in this snow, the more I realize how much work I need to do to it. We’ll earn our keep this summer.

OK, Week 7 is in the can! I hope you all like what I’m doing here. Let me know in the comments what you like or don’t like about the site!

Thanks for reading!