2017 Suburban Steader Update – Week 18

Another week, another weekly update from the Suburban Steader Homestead. Unfortunately, there wasn’t another post in between the weekly update post from last week, but such is life. It’s a combination of being busy at work, being busy at home and not finding something to write about that I can really sink my teeth into. I need ideas people!

OK, enough about that. You know what they say about excuses and rear ends. If you don’t, email me and I’ll tell you!

Let’s check into the going-ons at the Suburban Steader Homestead for Week 18 of 2017!

This Week’s Milestones

Back To The Workshop

I have been making an effort to get back into the workshop a little every night. It may only be for five minutes at a time or so, but it’s a definite stress relief. This week, I spent a little time building a hand plane iron sharpening jig similar to what Cody from Wranglerstar did.

The jig came out pretty nice but I do have a few things I would change. First off, I wish I hadn’t used the brad nails to connect the lip to the base piece. That just gives it a cheap, hacked together look. Second, the blocks aren’t perfectly cut. I’m working on using hand tools over power tools, so the edges are not perfectly straight. My skills are getting better, however.

To be honest, however, this jig was pieced together pretty quickly. I fully intend on coming back and building a nicer one once I get my hands on a rabbit planer (anyone have any for sale?).

But how does it work?

Well, the jig works great. It lines up perfectly and helps me set the same depth over and over again using my Self-Centering Sharpening Jig that I got from Amazon.

The problem I have is that the jig itself is not the greatest as-is out of the box. In fact, my hand plane iron now has a non-perpendicular edge to it. I’ll post a picture on Instagram later on that shows what I’m talking about.

I need to spend some more time modifying it. Wranglerstar (yes, I like a lot of his videos) did a video on how to do this as well.

[youtube_sc url=”XA_KDe7lsls” width=”400″]

If I can get the jig to work as well as Cody does, then I’ll really be in business! The next step will be getting some of those sharpening planes Paul Sellers talk about and building myself a proper sharpening fixture.

Fishing On The Mind

I’ve really been getting excited about the fishing season. If you remember, last week I showed you how I got my New York Fishing License. What I didn’t tell you is that I also got my license for Massachusetts which is where my folks live and where I grew up.

I am so excited to get out there that I’ve thrown my rods and gear in my truck so that I can get out any time the opportunity presents itself.

I’m actually thinking of buying a gun rack to hold them so it’s a little neater. What do you think?

We went to Massachusetts this past weekend for my nephew/godson’s First Communion. I brought my gear and got some water time in.

I didn’t catch anything – I think I got only one or two bites – but it was great to be back out there. I think I got my old man upset a little bit. He’s partially retired and lives on the lack but I got my line in the water first this year! I’m sure he’ll get more time in over the year, but it was nice to beat him to the punch for once.

Getting Back On The Horse

If you’ve been checking in on the Facebook page, you’ve probably noticed that I’ve been getting back into the habit of working out. It’s been great and I’m actually feeling a lot better. I was feeling run down, tired and generally crappy for a while and a big part of that is just not taking care of myself.

Part of getting back into shape – some would argue it’s the biggest part – is diet. I’ve had a lot of experience over the years with working out and nutrition (I used to power lift in my ‘past’ life). I’ve found that a high protein, low carb diet has always worked best for me. To that end, the Mrs and I are pursuing a Paleo-esque diet.

We’re not buying into the Paleo diet 100% simply because it can be expensive and sometimes we just need to balance out life with diet. That being said, I’m trying to follow the core principles of the eating plan (I hate the word diet) as much as possible. I’m also cutting out dairy and alcohol from my diet. That’s really difficult because I love cheese and craft beer!

Next Week’s Goals

Gardening

The Mrs has been a huge help this week with hardening off the veggies we still have indoors. To that end, I should be able to get the parsley and peppers outdoors. The eggplant, cukes, cilantro and basil all need to move into bigger pots but stay inside.

Our rabbit visitors seem to have departed, so I can start to prep the beds for transplants. Looking forward to all of this work and seeing the fruits of my labor.

I also found that the oregano and lemon balm I transplanted last year has begun to bloom. Looking forward to getting my hands on some of those as well!

Workshop

The workshop is always foremost in my mind – at least these days. I want to figure out the issue I’m having with the sharpening jig and then clean the place up. It’s a big mess right now and I need a clean workspace before I can even think about getting started on a new project.

That’s it folks – Week 18 is in the books! How was your week?

Thanks for reading!

2017 Suburban Steader Update – Week 17

Wow! Are we at another week already? Last week was a busy week for us here at the Suburban Steader Homestead and this week wasn’t much different. Let’s check into the going-ons at the Suburban Steader Homestead for Week 17 of 2017!

This Week’s Milestones

Get Your Hike On!

My twin girls are a masters course on nature versus nurture. They have been together since conception and have been exposed to life in the exact same way. In fact, it was only two years ago when they were in Kindergarten (they’re in Second Grade now) that they were separated in school. Why am I telling you all this information? Because, despite being exposed to exactly the same experiences, they are as different as different can be.

One is a sporty girl (let’s call her M). She loves to play soccer, lacrosse, and basketball. M also loves to do stuff with me like running, swimming, hiking, camping, yard work and can’t wait to surf, wakeboard, and snowboard in the next year.

My other daughter is my little nerd (let’s call her J). And I say that as lovingly as possible (I am an engineer after all). She will gladly curl up on the couch with a book and read the day away. J likes being outside but isn’t much of an athlete. We constantly have to tell her about walking while reading her books is dangerous. I’ve actually seen her walk down the stairs while reading a book. I was scared that she was going to miss a step and crack open her head.

Back To The Hike

But, despite their differences, they both love to explore new things. I was able to take them to Bear Mountain State Park in New York last weekend and we actually climbed the mountain.

Now, before you get too impressed (sarcasm, folks!) Bear Mountain’s summit is at roughly 1,300ft and the trailhead is at roughly 200ft. It’s not a terribly difficult hike nor is it terribly long – I think it was about 4.5mi round trip.

The hike was great. We started up Major Welch trail, summited and returned on the Appalachian Trail (AT). That description sounds relatively easy, but the Major Welch Trail provided it’s own level of difficulty in that it was rainy and there were lots of rock outcroppings. I taught the kids (and my wife) how to make sure their footing was safe before moving the next one. M took to it like a duck to water and was flying up the trail. J was a bit timider and slow. She also didn’t like getting her feet muddy.

J took one spill off a slippery rock and started crying pretty loud. The Mrs and I calmed her down and we decided to take a break. We had just hit a false summit and everyone was a bit bummed. M was ready to go, but we got some raisins into J. After that, she was a rock star! She scampered up to the peak, climbed the lookout tower stairs (which were the worst part for Dad) and rocked on the way down.

Their First Time On The AT

The girls were pumped about the way down. This hike was their first time on the AT. I had told M and J all about it and they were very excited to be on a trail that ran all the way from Georgia to Maine. I have to say that I’ve hiked parts of it in New England (most New Hampshire) and the portion around Bear Mountain might as well have been a sidewalk compared to New Hampshire. There was crushed blue stone and “manicured” steps the entire way.

We finished the day with some great steaks on the old charcoal grill.

What a great end to a great day!

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Yes, I’m a gardener and I’m wishing the rain away. Blasphemy, I know! But this last week has been non-stop rain. Unfortunately, that situation is not conducive to the point I’m at. I need to harden up some plantings and, to do that, I need some sun.

It looks like the sun will be coming out this afternoon for a while and the temps will really be creeping up – looks like we’ll be hitting 80F today (29-Apr)!

We should be able to harden off the seedlings and get them planted.

Civic Duty Calls

I had the pleasure of being called in for jury duty this week. Truth be told, I am one of those weird people who doesn’t actually mind it much. Over ten years ago I served on a grand jury and really enjoyed that opportunity. I got to see all kinds of cases come through there including murders, drugs, drunk driving and numerous other offenses. It’s very interesting to see how our court systems works – and how inefficient it is.

On this trip, I was brought up to final jury selection for a double murder case. It sounded quite interesting to be sure. Unfortunately, the case was expected to run from early May to the end of June. My employer does not pay for jury duty absences so I had to dismiss myself for financial hardship reasons. I was kind of bummed out as I would have liked to see how a criminal proceeding of that magnitude played out.

Next Week’s Goals

Gardening

I plan on getting the current seedling hardened off. I also have to plant my final crops – both for indoor and outdoor starts. The blueberries still need some loving – I have been so busy around the house and with work/jury duty that I haven’t gotten to them.

Workshop

I started building an alignment jig for chisel and hand plane iron sharpening similar to what Cody from Wranglerstar did. I’ll post pictures on Instagram once it’s complete. After that, I need to get the workshop cleaned up and then take a look at my grandfather’s old wooden toolbox. That should prove to be an interesting project.

That’s it folks – Week 17 is in the books! How was your week?

Thanks for reading!

2017 Suburban Steader Update – Week 16

I feel like I’m cheating a little bit as I wrote the last weekly wrap-up only five days ago. That being said, I want to get these back on track for Friday publish dates. The last few days have been somewhat busy and exciting. Let’s check into the going-ons at the Suburban Steader Homestead for Week 16 of 2017!

This Week’s Milestones

Uninvited Visitors At the Suburban Steader Homestead

I’ve begun daily walks through the garden after work now that I have actually placed crops into the beds. It’s a moment of relaxation for me every day after work. We also benefit from the walk because I’m checking the garden daily and noticing any changes (good or bad) as they occur.

A few days ago, I was doing my walk and had quite a scare. A mama rabbit came running out of the straw mulch. I took a look and noticed a little burrow in the straw and there were a few kits in it.

Needless to say, this discovery will cause my planting goals to be delayed a week or so as they mature. I stopped by yesterday and it didn’t look like they were there. I’m hoping Mama took them out and found a new home.

Tis The Season

I love being outdoors. I grew up on a lake and, while we didn’t have much money, we found tons of ways to have fun. One of those ways to have fun was fishing. My father is an avid largemouth bass fisherman and that apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree. To that end, I went and got my fishing license this week and am looking forward to getting my line wet this year. I’d love to learn how to fish for trout as well since there’s a pretty good stocking here on Long Island.

Note that Mike over at The Backyard Pioneer correctly pointed out that I’m missing a few endorsements on my license. Gotta get that Hunter’s Safety Course done so I can go deer hunting with him this fall!

Next Week’s Goals

Gardening

There’s a lot of tasks that need to be taken in the garden. I have to spend some time with my blueberry bushes and give them some nutrients. In addition, I have a lot of items that need direct sowing. I think that will all occur this coming weekend.

Workshop

I haven’t spent much time in my workshop. There’s a lot that needs to be done in there. First and foremost, I need to get it cleaned up – again. It seems like I always need to clean up my workshop. But, it’s an important task and makes it easier to start projects.

Once I get the shop cleaned up, the next tasks will be taking my grandfather’s old wooden toolbox and reworking it. I’m looking forward to seeing how nice that box can be after it’s restored.

Blog

The blog will be back with an article next week. Most likely I will be reviewing a book next week. I have a few in the queue as well as some other post ideas. We shall see – I always like to keep it a surprise for you guys!

Family Time

Saturday is looking to be an adventure day for the family. We’re planning to head up to Bear Mountain in Harriman State Park to hike up Bear Mountain. It’s not a terribly difficult climb, but it’s a great view at the top. In addition, my daughters are so excited that, on the return from the peak, we’ll be hiking on the Appalachian Trail. They seem to be infatuated with that trail – for good reason – and I’m happy they are so excited!

That’s it folks – Week 16 is in the books! How was your week?

Thanks for reading!

2017 Suburban Steader Update – Week 15

Spring has sprung on the Suburban Steader Homestead! The weather has turned to the warmer weather and the gardens are starting to grow! There was so much that happened this week that I need to get into it right now!

This Week’s Milestones

Back On Track!

After what seems like weeks and weeks of complaining, I feel like my health is back on track! I feel a hell of a lot better than I did in the last few weeks. I felt so good that I even started back to the gym.

It felt so good to push some weight and feel like I was exerting myself again! I guess that doctor’s appointment my wife set up for me last week really paid off! I’m back baby!

Project Completion

I am very happy to report that the gas storage project is 100% complete. The shelving unit is built and all twelve cans are bought, filled and stored appropriately. This project was a huge accomplishment for me. I do a lot of project management at work and this project is the first one I planned out completely at home and then executed to plan. Very proud of the product and the execution.

Next up is planning for water storage.

Spring Has Sprung

Finally…Spring has come back to…The Suburban Steader Homestead (extra points if you know what that’s a paraphrase from)! I cannot begin to tell you how awesome it feels to have warmer weather back here.

I transplanted all my lettuce, onions and broccoli. Some are taking better than others but we’re moving in the right direction. Being that it was a very busy week away from the Suburban Steader Homestead, I was not able to get all my direct sow stuff started. I did, however, get the beds all prepped. I utilize the Square Foot Gardening methodology in my beds and make sure that every year, my beds are mapped out prior to planting.

All this means that we’re full bore ahead on planting this season and should have a hell of a garden waiting for us in a few months!

Good Friday Wasn’t So Good

Good Friday was an interesting day for me. I went to work and my company did a great thing for us. Rather than work in the afternoon, we all went to one of those Escape Rooms and had a little competition. We split into three teams and I’m happy to announce that my team was the only one to escape successfully within the time limit. Apparently, there will be some kind of prize (of the cash variety from what I’m told) waiting for us on Monday morning! They also bought us lunch, which was great.

I obviously came home in a great mood…until I walked into the basement. When I sat down at my computer to write this article, I got about ten words in and heard a weird sound. I turned around and noticed that the ceiling was leaking directly onto my wife’s desk! Our basement is brand new – just finished it off in late summer 2016!

Needless to say, everything got dropped and we immediately began moving all the critical electronics and then the furniture. I contemplated fixing it myself but didn’t trust my torch skills in such an enclosed area so I called a professional. He was great and now the leak is fixed, but I have a lot of drywall work and painting to do. Such is the life of a homeowner!

Great Weekend Of Food

In terms of food, Easter is second only to Thanksgiving in my top food holidays. I do love me a nice ham with some mashed potatoes, gravy, and vegetables. The only thing that beats a nice ham is a turkey. As I write this article, the ham is in the oven and we’re waiting on guests to arrive. I’m truly drooling at my keyboard.

The best part is that I started the day off with a great breakfast – tasty omelet, crisp up croissant and some bacon. Tack on a hot, strong cup of coffee and my morning was terrific.

I have to mention, however, that I’m still a little upset at my buddy Mike over at The Backyard Pioneer. He’s been posting amazing pictures of meat he’s smoking for the holiday weekend and I haven’t gotten a single call or text to come try it out. With friends like that 😉

Blog Work

I got back to my roots and published a self-written, non-review article this week on why preppers should be backpackers. It’s a great read if I do say so myself. The article speaks to how backpacking is not only a great exercise but also a terrific skill builder!

Have you had a chance to check out the site since I did a little spring cleaning? If not, please do and let me know what you think!

Next week, I expect to have another review (authors love sending me books) but I’m looking to get back into direct articles that really provide some guidance. What topics would you like me to address?

Next Week’s Goals

Gardening! Getting the veggies growing is goal number one for the next week and beyond. I have a lot of direct sowing to do as well as starting some stuff in the house. I’m thinking that the next few weeks should really determine where the garden is going for this year.

The blog is also getting some attention as articles should become more consistent (I apologize for how late this article is going up) and the content should get a little deeper. I’ve had a lot of stuff outside of work/home that has taken a lot of time lately. That all should be dying down and I’ll be able to concentrate more on the site.

Week 15 of 2017 is in the books and what a busy one it was! Things are heading in the right direction and the Suburban Steader Homestead is starting to really crank. How’s your property doing? Are you getting everything done that you want to do?

Thanks for reading!

2017 Suburban Steader Update – Week 14

We are in the lull of the homesteading season here in the Northeast. It’s not quite warm enough to plant outside and, honestly, my home is fairly up-to-date so there’s not a lot of work that needs to occur. That being said, I kept busy this week on the Suburban Steader Homestead so come see what’s going on.

This Week’s Milestones

Make The Ick Stop!

Last week I complained of still being sick and, unfortunately, there’s no positive update this week. My cough has lingered and it doesn’t seem like the inhaler I’m using is doing much good. The good news is that my wife was able to get me an appointment with my real doctor (none of that walk-in clinic stuff we talked about last week) on Saturday. Hopefully, I’ll get some positive results from that appointment and I can stop whining to you every week!

It’s Sports Season

Spring is always a big season in our house for sports. It used to be that my twin girls played soccer. Now one of my daughters (we’ll call her J) doesn’t do any organized sports in the spring (she’s a cheerleader for the youth football program in the fall). My other daughter, M, is playing both lacrosse and soccer. She’s busy which means I’m busy – especially since I’m an assistant coach on the lacrosse team. Last week was the first weekend with games for us and I’m proud to say M scored a goal and had a few assists in an awesome lacrosse game which we won 6-2! This weekend is the first dual weekend game with both lacrosse and soccer on the same day. We’ll see how M shows up.

While she doesn’t do sports in the fall, that’s not to say J isn’t an athlete in her own right. We had Game Nights at the girls’ school last night and I got to see J smoke the rock wall in their gym. Awesome times!

I know this kind of conversation isn’t pertinent to the idea of homesteading, but remember that this site is dedicated to suburban homesteading. And raising your kids is definitely within that realm.

Plus, I’m a proud Papa!

Gardening Slowly Lurching Forward

The weather is – finally – turning! Next week should be in the 60’s here and I’m totally intent on getting some stuff in the ground. The lettuce, broccoli, and onions are doing great and will definitely benefit from moving to their final homes.

That means I can continue growing the peppers, sage, and eggplant. I’ll also be able to start additional plants like basil, cilantro, and cucumbers.

Oh, and I have garlic growing outside!!!

Blog Work

I got back to blog this work this week and boy, oh boy, did it feel good! I posted an article about Misty Marsh’s 72hr Kit Plan e-book. The e-book is great and, moreover, I feel like the article I wrote did it justice.

In addition, I did some maintenance on the site. The side column got cleaned up. A bunch of junk was removed and I added a list of the top ten articles on the site. My goal was to speed up the site with the removal of all the junk and to also provide a way for readers to find some of the great information on this site.

The resource page also got a little bit of a refresh with some new items. Most notably, I added a bunch of books. I want to do a review of all the tools I’ve listed and may even do something where I put together a toolbox for viewers to win. Is that a series idea you all would be interested in?

Next Week’s Goals

The underlying goal is to get better, but I’m finding more and more motivation. I’ve started to use a Bullet Journal and feel like I’m getting a little more organized.

The garden will see some traction this week and I will most definitely take pictures.

In addition, I’m going to review my 2016 Suburban Steader recap now that we’re a quarter way through 2017 and see how I’m living up to my goals.

So, that’s it for Week 14 of 2017! We’re moving in the right direction and just need Mother Nature to play her role. I also need to find time away from all the kids’ stuff. But, I love spending time with them, so it’s all good!

Thanks for reading!

2017 Suburban Steader Update – Week 12 & 13

I’m going to start right here by apologizing. I haven’t written an article that isn’t a wrap-up since Week 10 and I didn’t even get to a wrap-up article last week. There’s a reason for missing so much writing, but I’ll warn you that it’s not terribly exciting. All that being said, let’s see what’s been going on at the Suburban Steader Homestead.

This Week’s Milestones

This Has Been The Winter Of Illness

It feels like I’ve been telling you I’m sick for the last three or four weekly wrap-ups. Unfortunately, nothing has really changed. I felt good after our snowboard trip to New England and even during my folks visit the following weekend. After that, my health went downhill again. Last weekend, I woke up on Saturday with chills, cough, aches, pains, and a 102F fever. That lasted until mid-afternoon on Monday.

Yeah, that was fun. The good news is that the fever broke and the chills and sweats stopped with it. The aches and pains subsided and I felt halfway decent. Well, that is with the exception of a cough. Oh, the cough. This thing is so nasty that sometimes I can’t catch my breath and once I even started to see black come in from the sides because I was essentially passing out.

My doctor is great, but it’s virtually impossible to get into her office. I was able to go to a walk-in clinic this weekend. They ruled out walking pneumonia with a few chest x-rays and have prescribed me an inhaler for bronchitis. Hoping I’m on the road to recovery…

By the way, one of the only things that have helped me is good ole bourbon!

Gardening Has Slowed, But Not Stalled

The weather here has been really shitty – please excuse the language – and hasn’t allowed me to even harden off some of the stuff I’m growing. It’s caused me to delay planting other items due to how much room I’m consuming with material that should be planted in my beds outside at this point.

That being said, everything inside is growing well.

The broccoli, lettuce, and onions all need to be hardened off and planted outside. That should free up some room to plant additional plants like basil, cilantro, and cucumbers.

Oh, one quick update – I did get germination in some of my eggplant and sage. It seems like they just have a longer germination period than others. That makes me pretty happy!

Blog Work

As I alluded to previously, blog work has been quite slow. Between illness, work and home, I have had very limited time to write. I’m also an assistant coach on my daughter’s lacrosse team so I’m spending a lot of time there.

My goal is to get back to writing next week but, to be perfectly honest, I can’t guarantee it. I haven’t even found time to edit guest posts recently so I can’t guarantee anything at this point.

Next Week’s Goals

Next week’s goals are relatively simple. First and foremost, get better. I’m nothing without my health. Second, I want to get some of my crops planted outside. I think the weather should cooperate. Finally, I need to get the blog back in order with some articles. Fortunately, writing this article reminded me of just how quickly I can turn out an article if I actually just sit down and do it.

So, thank you for your patience. I appreciate knowing that folks understand that this blog isn’t run as a full-time job but rather as a side-effort to help teach folks. Sometimes “life” gets in the way of what we want to be doing.

Thanks for reading!

2017 Suburban Steader Update – Week 11

I can’t believe I’m writing another weekly wrap-up post already. This week seemed to go by way too quick. There’s good reason for that – I had a lot of fun this week and was quite busy! Come along and see what I accomplished this week on the Suburban Steader Homestead.

This Week’s Milestones

Travelin’ Man, Travelin’ Man, Yes I Am

Haha! Do you have that Bob Seger song stuck in your head yet? If not, here you go:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GsbmGctwls

OK, now that we’re done that with little pop culture sidetrack, let’s get down to business. Mrs. Suburban Steader and I took a much needed mini-vacation this weekend. We went up to a little cabin in New Hampshire. Every year we try to make this trip. It’s fun because we meet up with some friends. I get to snowboard, she gets to relax and we all get some time to hang out without kids. Good food and cold drinks are consumed. It’s a great time.

I love it because I get to explore a little bit of New England and, if you’ve paid any attention to me, you know that I love New England. The majority of our drive is spent on I-91 through Vermont but we end up at this little cabin affectionately called the Dumb Luck Lodge in NH.

It’s right near Attitash Ski Resort and that’s usually where I snowboard. This year was really fun because it was so cold. Yes, you read that right. It’s always a challenge to have fun in the cold, but I did. The day started out with base temps around -1oF and it didn’t warm up much. At one point, we reached the summit and it was -5oF with 15mph winds. The windchill was brutal. But, if you had the right clothing (which I do), you were fine.

See, prepping isn’t all about doom and gloom apocalypses!

Did I mention we came home to blizzard warnings? Yup, blizzard warnings…on Long Island…in March. That was no fun. We all ended up home – kids had school canceled, my work closed and the Mrs works out of the house. Fortunately, we all made it out alive and are here to tell the story. Oh, and we only got about 2” of ice and not really much snow. It turned to freezing rain in the middle of the storm and it really sucked to shovel.

Spring Is…Slowly…Coming

I didn’t plant much this week, but I’m seeing a lot of progress in the seed starting table since last week.

Everything has sprouted with the exception of the eggplant and the sage. I’m hoping those are both just longer germination times. I really should check. I’m always too busy.

The unfortunate thing is that I’m supposed to be hardening off the onions and lettuce. Yeah, well, with the storm last week and another one predicted for next week, I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

The garden will just be started a little bit late this year. No worries. I want to get this thing going as soon as possible; I’m finding patience in high demand and short supply.

Blog Work

There was no blog post this week. Lots of reasons for that, but it really came down to time. The mini-vacation last weekend took away my typical writing time. In addition, I’m in a little funk with what to write.

With that thought in mind, I’d greatly appreciate article ideas in the comments!

Next Week’s Goals

Next week’s goals are really weather-dependent. I’m at the point in the gardening season where I’d really like to start transplanting some crops and getting others started outside. Unfortunately, my beds are still under snow and we’re expecting more. The temperature isn’t expected to climb that much either which makes it not such a great scenario for seed sowing. I will probably push my plans back a week or two and let spring settle in a little more.

Outside of gardening, I have a few other things going on. My folks are coming for a visit this weekend and I usually find something to do with my old man, even if it’s just tinkering in the garage.

I also have to figure out my next garage project. I’m thinking about restoring my grandfather’s toolbox. It’s an old wooden one that I think he made. How’d you like to see some pictures of it over the next week?

Well, that’s a wrap, folks. Week 11 is in the books. To paraphrase Bill Belichick, the incredible coach of the New England Patriots, “We’re on to Week 12!”

Thanks for reading!

2017 Suburban Steader Update – Week 10

Wow! Double digit weeks already. Can you believe we’ve gone through ten weeks – seventy days – already in 2017? Tick, tock, tick, tock folks! Time marches on and you need to make sure you’re making the most of it. With that thought in mind, come along and see what I accomplished this week on the Suburban Steader Homestead.

This Week’s Milestones

Sickness Lingers Longer…Still!

Last week I lamented over how I had a horrible and cold. NyQuil was useful in the sense that I was able to sleep but the poor Mrs basically ended up sleeping next to a bear. The snoring was amazingly loud (or so I’m told) and she was getting minimal sleep. Well, I do feel a little better about the situation. I went to the doctor on Monday and found out I had strep throat. At least there was a good reason for a cough, sore throat and grizzly bear snoring. I’m on some horse pill sized Amoxicillin now and have seen some pretty quick results. The snoring has been reduced to the occasional brown bear level, which I suppose is an improvement. Hopefully, this illness is the last one for the year. Our family has definitely paid the price this winter. We’re hoping for a happy, healthy spring season.

Keeping My Hands Busy

I’m so happy. I finally have my garage/workshop back into some semblance of order. The good news is that I have finally finished my gas can shelf. It didn’t come out exactly as I designed but I kind of like when that happens. My usual approach is to design it in full on SketchUp (or even on paper) and then modify the design as I’m building it. So, without further ado, here’s the final project:

Let me know if you want plans for this design. I might make them available on the site if there’s enough interest.

I also got my grandfather’s hand plane rebuilt. All the parts have been cleaned, the plane is sharpened and it’s all put back together. The plane needed a lot of regrinding as it was quite out of square. Right now, I’m in the process of treating my wooden handle and front knob with Boiled Linseed Oil. I’ve treated it every day for the last week and am now onto treating it once a week for a month. From there, I’ll move on to once a month for a year. After that, it should be fully treated.

I think that, once things get cleaned up a little, I’ll move on to restoring my grandfather’s toolbox. Pictures of that to come.

The Planting Season Is Upon Us!

This last week was probably the busiest I’ve been with planting so far in 2017. Parsley, Peppers, Sage and Lettuce were all started this week and I’m already seeing some sprouts. Hardening off the onions and lettuce should occur in the next week or two.

Blog Work

The post this week was about the ten best survival skills for natural calamities. It’s an interesting article that addresses skills at the 10,000-foot level. I think it provides a good place for the reader to dig in and decide where they want to grow their skills.

Next Week’s Goals

It’s that time of year where the gardening really takes off. We’ll take a little break this weekend since we’re heading out of town, but next week we’ll be hardening off the lettuce and onions. In addition, we’ll be planting cilantro and basil inside. And, weather permitting, we’ll sow peas and lettuce outside as well. I love this time of year because browns are replaced with green and that smell of spring – that smell of rejuvenation – starts to come back. It’s such an invigorating time of year and I’m really looking forward to getting back out into the yard and getting my hands dirty again!

In the words of Porky Pig “Ba-da-ba-da-ba-da, That’s All Folks!” Week 10 is officially over! Our homestead is really starting to gain traction and I’m excited to see how this growing season goes. In addition, we’ve got a lot of DIY projects that we’re contemplating so stick with us and see what happens!

Thanks for reading!

2017 Suburban Steader Update – Week 09

This week seemed like both the longest and shortest week yet in 2017. Work, life and suburban homesteading events abounded here on the Suburban Steader Homestead. Without further ado, here’s what happened in Week 09 of 2017!

This Week’s Milestones

Sickness Lingers Longer!

Last week I mentioned how the Suburban Steader Homestead was invaded by a major stomach bug. Well, that illness wore out its welcome and was finally vanquished. But, the sore throat that showed up afterwards still lingers. I have two options at night – down some NyQuil or suffer through the night. The downside to sucking down the NyQuil, above and beyond taking medication like that, is that I snore like a bear! Mrs. Suburban Steader gets no sleep when I do that. The alternative is that I get no sleep. So, I’m alternating nights at this point so that at least one of us gets a good night sleep. I have an appointment with the doctor on Monday so hopefully I’ll get this thing under control.

The DIY Projects Continues

My garage/workshop is in disarray right now. I have two projects going on at the moment and I have tools and work pieces everywhere! The two projects I have going on are the gas can shelf and restoring my grandfather’s Stanley Handyman Hand Plane.

Let’s start with the gas can shelf. I redesigned the shelves themselves and decided to not use a 45-degree miter design underneath the plywood. This decision was made for two reasons: 1) mitering stock 2×4’s is somewhat difficult with the tools I have and B) the butt end will be hidden by the vertical support so the end product will look the same regardless of design. So, the shelves themselves are done. Now I’m putting in the guide blocks which will spread the cans out evenly over the shelf and prevent me from sliding them too far back on the shelf. I used the drill press to pre-drill some holes on the divider guide blocks and that really helped speed up production. My plan is to finish up the shelving this weekend.

The second DIY project I have is restoring my grandfather’s Stanley Handyman Hand Plane. It’s nothing special in terms of what the tool is worth. But, from a sentimental value, this thing is priceless.

I’ve taken it completely apart, cleaned it up and sharpened the plane. I used a wire wheel brush to remove rust from everything and coated it all in oil to prevent future rusting. The painted parts were just cleaned up. I didn’t strip the paint.

The front knob and handle were stripped down, sanded and treated with Boiled Linseed Oil. The stain or paint on it didn’t come totally off, so I don’t think it looks great, but it does look and feel better. I’m utilizing the old approach of applying the BLO once a day for a week, once a week for a month and then once a month for a year. I’ve used that approach on some other tool handles and I can’t begin to explain how well it’s worked. BLO is a great finish – it seems to get better with use!

One problem I’m having is that the plane doesn’t seem to be sharpening at a perfect right angle which makes the reassembly and setup skewed. I might have to work on that some more.

Garden Is Growing!

Not much new here, but some great news! The broccolli sprouted and so did the garlic in my beds. It’s still early in the year, but seeing some green in the garden beds is so motivating!

Blog Work

Back at it on the blog front this week with an article on bugging out when SHTF. It is a guest post from Dan Sullivan at SurvivalSullivan.com. It’s an interesting, practical article that I believe you’ll find useful. I want to get back to more useful, actionable articles.

Next Week’s Goals

Planting resumes this weekend with sage and lettuce. Both of which should be quick starts. I can’t believe I will be hardening off lettuce and onions as early as next week. Amazing that we’re getting to that point already. I think I need to get some manure or fertilizer in the gardens this weekend so it works in before I start transplanting.

As mentioned, the gas can shelving should be finished this coming weekend and my plane upgrade should be complete as well. Wow! Lots of stuff going on!

Long Term Plans

Nothing new here – shed, garage/shop upgrades and improvements, yard work, etc… Thinking about dumping this section or, at most, talking about long term plan only when something new comes in. What do you think?

Week 9 is officially over! Can you believe we’ll be into double digit weeks in 2017 next week? Amazing! 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!

2017 Suburban Steader Update – Week 08

If last week was lucky number 7, this week was unlucky number 8! We got a lot done around the Suburban Steader Homestead but there was also a lot of problems that needed to be overcome. Come along and find out what happened!

This Week’s Milestones

Sickness Invades!

I mentioned last week that sickness invaded the house. Well, little did I know that it was just the pre-emptive raid. Initially, it was just my kids getting sick. They both had vomiting incidents (into their beds, mind you) last Thursday night. But, they were both fine the next day. Unfortunately, the sickness was just finding our weak points and made its tactical advance on Friday when it took out the Mrs. The poor girl was out of commission starting Friday afternoon and wasn’t right until sometime Monday. I spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday night “camping” in the den.

We thought we had vanquished the enemy, but it did an end around and struck the final member of the family, yours truly, on Monday night. I was useless on Tuesday. To make matters worse, I had originally taken Tuesday off to spend time with the family since it’s winter recess for the girls. That didn’t happen. And then, to pile it on, I developed a killer sore throat Wednesday night which left me with zero sleep heading into work on Thursday.

Long story short – the Suburban Steaders are sick of being sick!

Gardening and DIY

Despite the plague that has been set upon our home, we did continue with some of our projects. I started peppers, parsley, eggplant, and broccoli in my hacked together seed starting system. I even made a small YouTube video about it.

[youtube_sc url=”rsZ888fehHc” width=”480″]

In addition, I began construction on the gas can holder that I talked about. I only had a few hours to work and got the platforms fabricated. I had originally designed it with mitered corners for the supporting 2×4’s but think I’m going to change it butt joints as I can’t get the dimensions right on the miters – they seem to overhang a bit where I know I can make butt joints perfect. Construction should resume this coming weekend.

Blog Work

Blog work took a hit this week as I just didn’t have the energy or the time to get an article up on Tuesday due to both playing the dual parent role while my wife was out of commission and being ill myself. I apologize for that and can assure you that articles will resume next week. I may even play catch up with two articles plus my weekly review.

Next Week’s Goals

Planting will go on hiatus next week. By the calendar, we shouldn’t need to start anything else until the following weekend. We’ll let everything grow and start getting ready to harden off some of the seedlings before growing them outside. The beds also need some TLC so maybe we’ll take care of that this weekend.

Outside of gardening tasks, the gas can holder build will continue this week. I’m looking to also make a few videos – an EDC overview and perhaps a garage/shop tour. Also thinking about a GHB overview. Would you like that?

Long Term Plans

Long term plans still include the shed and getting the garage/shop into some semblance of order. I think I need to review all my yard tools and see if any of them need any maintenance before the growing season is in full bloom.

OK, Week 8 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!