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Literally one of the major reasons we try to grow as much of our own food as we can. Not only is it fresher, better, and a near-non-existent carbon footprint, it also teaches you that growing and harvesting food is a SKILL.

No matter how much land you have (even if it’s none), you can grow SOME things. Put a planter box of herbs in your kitchen windowsill. Grow a pot of tomatoes on your patio. Put in planter boxes of strawberries. Many libraries have free seed packets. Some local farm stores do free seed swaps too. And there are free little libraries of seeds. Big box hardware stores give away the plastic pots from plants that have died. And some garden stores will fill a pot with soil for free if you buy both the plant and pot (cheapest big pot plus cheapest little plant gives you a lot of soil for free!).

And if you really CAN’T do any of that, consider shopping local. Like, REALLY local. Farmer’s markets are more expensive for a reason (we do the work ourselves). Farm stands are an awesome resource too, and directly benefit your community. And you might find some better deals! None of the farm stands in our area have raised their egg prices over last year. NONE of them. People sometimes pay at our stand using “IOU” notes (they’ve always paid later). Local small farms will usually happily answer any questions you have and may give you discounts for larger or regularly scheduled purchases.

the fact that "eco" and "ethical" are two separate concerns in the global north, and that "eco" is a much more popular concern, with many "eco" products being made in actual sweatshops, is a big part of why i am The Joker

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I promised farm updates and I’ve seriously been slacking! Sorry about that but in my defense it’s been too busy to even sleep. Literally.

Last night was the first time I’ve slept more than two hours in a row in nearly two weeks. When we have goats due to kid their babies, we check on them hourly. Around the clock. And thank goodness we do! Three of the six who have kidded this month needed help. Two needed SUBSTANTIAL help (by which I mean I had to reach in and fish out babies). But we have 15 surviving baby goats (one didn’t make it) and six healthy mommas.

Another six are pregnant but no one is due for at least another month… which gives me time to get started on planting, butchering chickens (we have over 200), getting the Farmstand up and running for the year, and fixing infrastructure.

We have two boys inside right now being bottle fed and Tempest thinks they’re her babies. She’s absolutely obsessed and so, so gentle. They were both on the small side at only 2 lbs, and one has a beast of a 5 lb sisters. He was getting trampled on and couldn’t eat. And he needed a buddy to cuddle. Hence, they’re currently living in my shower.

Spot, the kitten in one of the photos below, is my best labor-detector. He pops up and hovers when someone is close, then butts his way in to clean the babies. He’s particularly attached to one doe’s kids and cuddles them most of the time.

And speaking of farm animals… Ollie and Smoaky, our livestock guardian dogs, are expecting puppies! We let them breed because we wanted two more LGDs to protect the herd and we wanted them trained up by their parents from the getgo. We intend to keep a boy and a girl (and have both father and son neutered) and I already have two additional farms lined up who want their puppies too. Most breeds are not well suited for LGD work. Ollie is a Great Pyrenees/Maremma mix and Smoaky is a Karakachan. Both have been exposed to goats from birth and are uniquely suited for their roles. (In short, I adore dog rescues and the work they do, but rescue dogs, even if they’re the right breeds, are a huge gamble with livestock. I know breeding dogs is a touchy subject for some, but these dogs are not pets. They are critical to the wellbeing of my herd and in this very specific circumstance, I’m comfortable breeding them just this once). Puppy pictures will be posted next month, presuming all goes well.

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hope is a skill

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I feel like at some point somebody should do an adaptation of Hamlet involving a zombie outbreak as a major part of the plot, if only because "something is rotten in the state of Denmark" as the tagline is too good an opportunity to pass up.

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It’s been a bit! I’ve deleted my Twitter but I am keeping my Tumblr, and I thought I’d give a brief look at what we’ve been doing.

Just over three years ago, we started on a never-ending journey toward self-sufficiency. I have learned SO much since then and there’s still so much to learn.

We raised our first pigs this past year and just sent them to butcher, though we will likely do the deed ourselves next time. We have about 25 dairy goats, which we breed, compete with, and milk. I make cheeses, yogurt, sour cream, butter, and ice cream. We also sell some of the milk. We have about two dozen chickens at the moment after butchering roughly half of them. Next year we intend to drastically up that number and add butchered farm-fresh, never-frozen chickens to our offerings, along with eggs.

We built a massive raised bed garden which produced a ton of… well, produce! On top of your usual tomatoes and peppers, we had a huge variety of herbs, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, strawberries, nasturtiums, chard, Brussels sprouts, peas, beans, lettuce, spinach, carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic, chickpeas, pinto and black beans, grapes, rhubarb, figs, artichoke, melons, squash, cucumber, buckwheat, blueberries, cranberries, pumpkins, bay laurel, lemongrass, and amaranth that all produced for us this year. Obviously some did a lot better than others but we are experimenting with unusual varieties that better withstand extreme temperature and drought.

We use 100% water capture for our plants and animals, though we did run out once this year and had to truck in some water. We also have a large solar array that covers most of our electrical use.

While I am planning to write again very soon, what I’m planning to write next is a cookbook of difference recipes using chèvre (aka goat cheese). I’ve experimented with it a lot, as I frequently have a lot of it, and I’ve got everything from drinks and soups to main courses and desserts that I make all the time.

We pressure and water bath can, dehydrate, and (soon will!) freeze dry goods. I’ve tried - and failed - at making a sourdough starter, but Dan has had great success making mead.

All of this is to say, if any of you have questions or want advice on how to be a little more self sufficient (even if that just means growing some herbs in your windowsill. Start where you’re at!!), I’m always here to ask questions of or tell you what lessons I learned the hard way.

My kids are great and I’m super proud of all three of them (youngest is a foster kiddo who has been with us over a year). I won’t be discussing them online anymore, with very very few exceptions, for their safety.

❤️

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Know how my oldest was six when I started posting Arrow fic? Yeah… today was her 16th birthday party. 😭❤️😭❤️

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writers will really have a doc titled ‘fic planning’ and then it’s just blank

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fanfiction is so wild cause im like…..ugh im not in the mood to read a book…..i’ll just read an 82k word fic instead……

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She's right and I'm scared

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UPDATE This is still happening - in fact, I started it and plotted out nearly the whole thing - but it's not going to start posting in March. I need more time with it than that, and it's important to me to do this story right. It has SO MUCH potential and I really, really do love a fun historical romance. After writing and posting the Ameliam Rock Star AU, my brain is just FILLED with that verse for the moment and I'm thinking I might write a series of novellas in that world (how Elara got together, rival electric guitar players Jules and Alex, shy karaoke singer Penny and pianist Nate who sees her potential, Will's mentor Felicity and his dad Oliver...) and publish them. It took me all of 4 days to draft the Ameliam story. 5k a day came pretty easily, even if it was time consuming. As long as I'm loving it and it's productive... I mean, why the hell not keep going, right? It's DEFINITELY got potential for KU. I'm not in a spot to pay for professional editing or covers at the moment, so I'll either need to do it myself (and possibly lean on some friends for help) or wait until I can afford to invest a little, but getting it out into the world in a way that accurately represents it as original fiction seems like a good idea to me. It's possible (likely?) that the next fic I post on AO3 will actually be the Elara spy vs. spy. I'm playing with that between other projects and really liking the vibe. It's Sara's PoV which comes a lot more naturally after writing the Ameliam Rock Star story (about time!!!). Anyhow, I just wanted to let you all know where I was at and what's going on story-wise. Basically, I'm being way less strict with my plans. I'm playing where I want to play. Posting as I want to post. I have to fight back feeling guilty for not keeping to a schedule and giving you all clear expectations, which is extremely silly I know (I KNOW). Thank you guys for your continued support. Coming back to writing has been a joy and keeping myself in check so I don't build up to a burnout again isn't easy. ♥

Well, now I’m torn.

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As promised in the notes of Playing For Her Heart, here’s the lyrics I wrote while listening to Halsey’s You Should Be Sad, but did not use for the story. I’m still in love with you  When I wake up in her bed With nothing but regrets And the pounding of my head But you still look right past me Oh no, I know you don’t see Got a fractured heart an’ a muddled head ‘Cause we will never be Oh when you look at me what is it you find? A shining star? Your other half? Or someone you leave behind? If I break apart and shatter right here in front of you Will you pick me up and put me back or keep looking right on through Oh you don’t see me You never have You broke me open Yeah right in half And you don’t see it This morbid art But you cut me up and tore me down  And ripped me all apart So I’ll end up back where I began In someone’s arms, in someone’s bed Who don’t mean a god damned thing I’ll break this down real simple You’re the only one I want Day and night and dusk and dawn You haunt my every thought But you don’t even know you’re a ghost Dream girl and nightmare fuel, oh, the one I want the most If I break apart and shatter right here in front of you Will you pick me up and put me back or keep looking right on through Oh you don’t see me You never have You broke me open Two jagged halves And you don’t see it This morbid art But you cut me up and tore me down And ripped me all apart Oh you don’t see me You never have You broke me open Yeah right in half And you don’t see it This morbid art This morbid art Oh when you look at me what is it you find? A shining star? Your other half? Or someone you leave behind? If I break apart and shatter right here in front of you Will you pick me up and put me back or keep looking right on through Oh you don’t see me You never have You never  You never have You never You never

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Playing For Her Heart by So_Caffeinated  - #Ficon https://archiveofourown.org/works/45373639 (All six chapters of this story are now up!)

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Even when I write daily for months on end, this happens to me every time I sit down at a keyboard. And, like, I’ve posted over a million words of fanfic and published two books.

do you ever not write for so long that you’re almost afraid to? like what if I’m dumb now

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I know this is wild, but people continue to enjoy things after they become adults.

Reblog if you’re over 20 and still read/write fan fiction.

I’m curious!

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Thank you to those that voted!! This helps me a lot and it closely mirrors responses on Twitter, too. I’ve got a pretty good idea of what I’m gonna do going forward… Ideally, I’d like to meet everyone where they’re at and give them the experience they prefer. That’ll take a little juggling but I *think* I can do it, and make it all serve my interests too. I just need a while to work out the details.

But for now, keep an eye out for that Rock Star AU!! I’ve done about 16k in the last three days and should finish up the first draft this weekend. I doubt it’ll be out on Monday, but *maybe.*

I’ll post more about my thoughts and possible plans soon. I’m mulling things over and trying to decide what approach best serves me, my readership, and my stories. Thanks for answering!