Did you know that goat is the most widely consumed meat on the planet? Goats milk contains more protein and is more easily digestible than other kinds of milk? If you want to live off-grid and work towards becoming self-sufficient keeping goats is a good way to increase your chances of success. They are tough all-weather livestock that can survive in most conditions and eat a wide variety of food. I have been keeping goats for almost four years and in that time I have learnt a lot but I didn’t need to go to school to learn or get a certificate in animal husbandry, the best way to learn about goats is through observation. By observing their behaviours over time you come to understand their natural rhythms and become a better goat keeper. Thats not to say you shouldn’t invest in a few good goat keeping books but without spending time with your goats and watching their behaviours you won’t really get to know their unique behaviours. This week our Herd Queen Sadie went onto heat and our new buck Noel sprang into action. Probably he didn’t realise that mating with Sadie was going to be such an ordeal but he persisted and eventually got the job done, only took him three days of constant battle. What a champion!
It makes no sense to me that we take perfectly good drinking water, mix it with our poo, flush it down the toilet, and then pay millions of monies to separate that water from that poo in an attempt to make it clean again. Here at the Freedom Farm we are pursuing a plan I like to call RE-POOPULATING THE EARTH and it’s the opposite of what we used to do back home. It takes marginally more time jthan simply flushing but it’s also natural, chemical free, and a literal gift to the earth, it’s called Humanure. In this video I’m going to show you how we poop off-grid and how we turn that poop into valuable compost for our garden!
Gypsum is one of the most ubiquitous and easy to find rocks on the planet and we’ve been mining it for thousands of years to use in art, medicine and construction. The Egyptians even used it for their pyramids! This week at the Freedom Farm permaculture Homestead Off-Grid in Spain we’re using gypsum that we mined on our own property to make plaster of Paris with the end goal of making a homemade DIY emergency survival plaster cast. Hopefully we never have to use it for real but at least we know how!
A quiet week at the Freedom Farm Permaculture Homestead. A gentle rain brings refreshing temperatures and happiness to us, the animals and the plants. This is a relaxing meditation video for you to enjoy.
This week I’m trying two new food preservation methods with varying results. First I’m making fig vinegar using a 2000+ year old recipe from ancient Rome and figs from an old fig tree on the homestead. Then, using a big crate of mushrooms gifted to me by a friend from the farmers market, I am going to try using the power of the sun to dry them. I also end up telling the story of the time me and my ten year old friend were almost arrested by the cheese police for selling our homemade goats cheese at the local farmer’s market, busted!
Surprise Baby Goat! We weren’t expecting or planning to get a new goat but this poor little lad was in desperate need of rescuing. He’s only five months old so we’re going to see if we can fatten him up a bit and teach him how to be a good boy. So far he’s a perfect little gent
If I grow something I try my absolute best to harvest and use it and I grow a whole lot of lavender. In this video I show you how I harvest, dry, and use lavender flowers to make an all natural and organic Infused Lavender Olive Oil that works great as a moisturising skincare, insect repellent and a massage oil for tired muscles.
I only use three things on my skin; witch hazel, olive oil, and natural unscented olive oil soap. That might sound rather limited but there are so many different ways to use olive oil that you’ll never get bored. I make my own lavender oil as a treatment for my skin, as a massage oil for tired muscles, and as an insect repellent in summer.
Off-Grid Living: Q&A. Your Questions Answered! How to go off-grid? Can you be vegan? Books to read?
Walking the Goats and making Herbal Tea on the mountainside.