Ebenezer Homestead

In July 2017 we bought 8 acres of unkempt Texas scrub near the town of Iola. Now we’re working on turning it into a model permaculture homestead.

[Ebenezer Homestead @EbenezerHmstd]

Number one son's side of the bait hive. A beautiful Texas day: Oak tree and pond under the sun and clouds, bees buzzing, vines climbing, and a sample of honeycomb. He even gave the bait hive it's name, the "All Bees Inn."

[Ebenezer Homestead @EbenezerHmstd]

G's side of the Layens Bait Hive. A very eclectic mix of images: Squash flowers, Man on fire "but he doesn't even know it", Bees, Ant hill, Bow & arrow, Axe, Cactus, Poison arrow, Sun & Clouds that his brother painted.

[Ebenezer Homestead @EbenezerHmstd]

The back of the bait hive. I call it E's impressionistic, gray period.

[Ebenezer Homestead @EbenezerHmstd]

Took 2 weekends, but I made a Layens Bait Hive! https://t.co/0xl7eXvYIi

[Ebenezer Homestead @EbenezerHmstd]

@FedEx driver delivering my @amazon order of chicken processing cones has been completely incompetent. Said the office was closed Friday, when we were open and staffed. Said he delivered the order yesterday, but it's nowhere to be found. Now the tracker says "Out For Delivery"

[Ebenezer Homestead @EbenezerHmstd]

#BSFL bin is in full swing! The #Broilers are getting a nice, high protein, supplement each morning.

[Ebenezer Homestead @EbenezerHmstd]

New #permaculture system for us! Black Soldier Fly Larvae #bsfl eat the broiler chicks that didn't survive, then we feed the BSFL to living broiler chicks as a free, high protein, organic supplement!

[Ebenezer Homestead @EbenezerHmstd]

Lots of rain in our part of Texas over the weekend, so I stayed inside and made TWO batches of #soap! A 3 pound batch of lemon/baking soda kitchen #hotprocesssoap, and a 1 pound batch of lavender rosemary goat's milk/oatmeal bath #coldprocesssoap (pictured).

[FTCLDF @FoodFreedomFund]

TEXAS:
Act Now if You're Thirsty for Raw Milk!

Click on the action alert or find it here:
https://t.co/5urDCmMWZ0 https://t.co/5lvogrs0PK

[Ebenezer Homestead @EbenezerHmstd]

Tuesday The Prairie Homestead Cookbook arrived. Wednesday Jennifer made "Slow Cooker Pulled Pork" (p 77) substituting homegrown chicken, & "Sweet & Tangy BBQ Sauce" (p 263). Absolutely delectable! Leftover chicken parts, & veggie scraps became "Nourishing Homemade Stock" (p 236).

[Ebenezer Homestead @EbenezerHmstd]

Package tracking said THIS wasn't supposed to arrive until tomorrow. Imagine our surprise when the boxes showed up on our doorstep this afternoon!!

Ready to #bingewatch the videos, and #bingecook the recipes! Thanks for making this amazing resource Jill! https://t.co/eRXA5P1Wws

[Ebenezer Homestead @EbenezerHmstd]

Took advantage of having my friend's #tractor to pull some big pieces of junk littering our property into a central location. The most hilarious part was hooking up the tow chain to the #boat and dragging it across the pasture!

DM if you're interested in an old Lamar boat.

[Ebenezer Homestead @EbenezerHmstd]

One month old today! Taking baby Viv out with me to move the Cows. Just call me Justin Rhodes Jr. ;-)

[Ebenezer Homestead @EbenezerHmstd]

Loving the Ruth Stout gardening method! Super easy to implement, and (try not to laugh too hard) ot has given us the biggest carrots we have had yet!

[Ebenezer Homestead @EbenezerHmstd]

One of our homegrown carrots! Jennifer and the kids call it "Dancing Carrot," but after I looked at it I thought the name needed some spicing up. I call it "Salsa Carrot!"

[Ebenezer Homestead @EbenezerHmstd]

A #sunrise over miles and miles of #Texas. These are the mornings I feel extra #blessed to live outside the city.

[Ebenezer Homestead @EbenezerHmstd]

@MotherEarthNews @MotherEarthFAIR With a new baby due on the Belton date, we won't make it to our in-state fair. A good excuse to go to the Asheville fair! ;-)

[Ebenezer Homestead @EbenezerHmstd]

One reason why we are FTCLDF members.

[FTCLDF @FoodFreedomFund]

Have you ever been told that your farm doesn't actually look like a farm?

Jacob and Danielle have, by a county assessor! Read their story. https://t.co/Sj2IkXmp4y

[Ebenezer Homestead @EbenezerHmstd]

Celebrating my redneck engineering, and the completion of 300 feet of field fence! Now the cows will have more field for grazing!

#redneckengineering #fieldfence

[Ebenezer Homestead @EbenezerHmstd]

Next experiment on the Homestead... a #LlivingFence! Following the Harvey Ussery article in motherearthnewsmag, we collected horse apples from an Osage orange tree that we found on our… https://t.co/BdaHl9o0LH