I wrote this last night but failed to post it. So here’s the entry for yesterday:

It’s so late and I really needed to talk to others before posting but they’re asleep, so here’s the day according to Jen:

I visited with Davis Mounger at CSAS about his solar panel project, which is currently being done through the energy systems class. He was very willing to talk to me about it and seemed happy that I was interested. It was a good visit, but nothing concrete came of it. He did say that he had a big rototiller though : ) Must keep that in mind. Oh! Also, he said he can do soil sampling for us. Very cool.

I was able to rake some of the leaves in the yard and move them to a pile near the compost, but still have a lot to do.

We had a house meeting but one of the residents did not attend. There was a lot of drama today, nothing I care to go into since it’s being taken care of, but just the ins and outs of living with others closely. It takes practice!

Lori worked on the website more. I’m so happy Lori is a good writer. She also talked to a lady in Texas about our Junior Master Gardner program and got the approval to move forward.

I want to work on screen printing tomorrow so I coated 2 screens tonight in hopes that my emulsion has not expired and will still work. If so, am hoping I can make a quick shirt for Main x24 and LMSH.

SO TODAY:

We’re vending at Main x24 and shopped for food for that event. Look for us.

I met with Kathleen today and we discussed screenprinting t-shits for the Brainerd Farmer’s Market in the Spring. I also want to sell my jewelry at the market between now and Christmas. I informed her of our efforts here at Lookout Mountain Sustainable Homestead as well.

Raked more yard leaves. I’m making sure we have them as a resource when we need them for gardening purposes.

I also was able to make a screen for LMSH and we hope to wear screenprinted tees to Main x24. This has been my first project since earlier this year, and it feels good to be getting back into screenprinting but I need to work more with my work space to get it working efficiently. This will come with time.

Not the most productive day today when it comes to homesteading work, but tomorrow’s another day.

Jennifer in the garden

Website almost live, garlic planted, homeschooling materials, etc.

Accomplishments today: A friend of mine built a spacious herb and spice storage shelf for me 3 years ago. I fits perfectly here in the cabin, so we transferred most of the herbs and spices from the kitchen to storage since we need more room in the kitchen. It’s now just across the pantry. We discussed the tornado that occurred here on April 27, 2011. It didn’t actually hit our property, but came dangerously close. Lula Lake Land Trust on Facebook has a magnificent picture of the tornado as it approached the mountain. Noah’s friend Jim delivered a load of firewood. Thank you so much Jim! It will be put to good use. Lori was able to order Camilla’s homeschooling materials from University of Nebraska. I grocery shopped at the Village Market since I was in Collegedale. They have humongous bok choy for $1.99. I planted 24 cloves of organic garlic today. I was able to acquire more jewelry making supplies today, and spent a couple hours this evening on jewelry. I still have much to do before Main x24 this weekend! Lori researched building cob structures and companion planting. She mentioned that garlic does well with rose plants, but not well with asparagus or green beans. Good thing she looked that up, as we almost made the asparagus very unhappy. Lori bagged dried sage for culinary use in our kitchen. Dinner tonight was rice with stir-fried squash, carrots, bok choy, onions, mushrooms, green peppers. Chicken for some, organic tofu for this veg : ) The chicken lived out a happy life on Sand Mountain before making it to our kitchen. Lori spent EXTENSIVE time on website work today. She wrote the vision, and we all wrote bios. ETA for website become live is Friday at the latest. Thanks for following us.

We need an intern!

Monday has been somewhat productive, but the day went by too fast. Today we developed a flier to communicate what we are looking for in an intern. We’re really excited about having another person here with us at LMSH, someone who is passionate about how they live and work and who can bring more spirit.

Noah, one of the residents, was able to finish putting up shelving for our extra herbs and spices. We also have a huge need for firewood right now and Noah was able to help the house acquire more. Thank you Noah!

I got a package from one of my jewelry suppliers and was excited to use the new materials so I made 5 pairs of earrings! I have so much more to do before Main x24 this weekend.

Lori really put in a lot of work on the website today. We should have that up and visible in the next day or two. We’ll be handing out info about LMSH at Main x24 so we have to get out thoughts straight and in a presentable manner. While waiting to become an official non profit we need fiscal sponsorship (umbrella) by a like minded non profit. Please contact us if you have a lead for this, and we will continue to research possibilities.

Lori, Noah, Camilla, and myself discussed responsibilities and how to make sure we are doing our share. This is tough but essential to living cooperatively with others.

The rest of the day was filled with an evening walk, making dinner, and writing.

What a beautiful day it was here on Lookout Mountain today. I'm so glad I got to take a walk. We have a large patch of spearmint so today we began potting small plants to sell with info about The Learning Garden at Main x24. I also began on a brochure to hand out with the mint.

Also today I emailed Davis Mounger at East Ridge HS. I knew at some point recently he was involved in a solar panel making project. So I emailed him today to find out what the status is. We want solar panels so I'm going to pay him a visit this week to see how we can work together to acquire a solar panel and get them involved in The Learning Garden. I'm looking forward to meeting with him, tentatively on Wed.

Today we briefly discussed fundraising. We REALLY need a truck. We need firewood. We need to be able to haul soil, and produce, and equipment. So, I am going to suggest that our first fundraiser (beyond the "fundraising" we do to pay our own personal bills)be for a truck. Oh! I FORGOT! This will not be the first fundraiser. Lori organized a fundraiser the first weekend of November. Songs of Water and Aimee Wilson played. We didn't sell as much food as we'd hoped but we broke even, thanks to a $100 donor.

Lori pulled out a bread maker the other day and tonight I gave it a shot. Turned out pretty well for my first time. Well, my first time in years that is. We want to start making our own bread regularly.

Last night I forgot to mention the work that Lori's son Noah did on the heating system here at the house. We heat with wood and he fine tuned the basement wood stove and duct system. So thankful for his help.

There has probably been more today, but I'll wind down for now.

A week of accomplishments

We would like to make a blog post every day listing the things we accomplished as we work towards our goals. I moved here to the homestead on the 16th of November, which was a Friday.

On Monday November 19 we started working. We cleaned the basement out and began to make space for exercise equipment that was being delivered. Our friend Emily Franklin donated a load of Hickory firewood. Thank you Emily! I started to set up my screenprinting area in the basement. We began dehydrating bananas to save them from rotting. Actually this took a couple of days and we never got them completely dry, but they should be dehydrated enough to store. Lori and I also had a meeting with Emily while she was here to plan our "Holiday Handmade Gift Party." What's that? I make jewelry, Emily knits and sews. We're throwing a party on December 11th here at the Homestead and will be selling our products. It will be a great way to support local small businesses and craftspeople.

On Tuesday November 20 I feel we didn't get as much done. I have to get used to this fluctuation in accomplishments and not let it get me down. I'm used to working regular jobs where you show up and get paid no matter what. Well, when you're homesteading you just do the best you can and get done what you can. I opened bank accounts and worked on my personal things. Lori worked on her finances. Later in the afternoon/evening, I pulled out jewelry making things and Lori and I had fun making jewelry. We also made plans for the web site and blog on Tuesday.

On Wednesday November 21 we walked through the property and discussed plans for the land. Jen did laundry. Yay! Lori researched info in the wee hours of the morning… We moved the firewood stand to the porch and filled it with firewood because it's supposed to be getting colder. We also did something I thought was very fun. We harvested zenia and marigold seeds from the dried flowers. We also worked in the front perennial garden. I really enjoy working outside.

Thursday November 22 was Thanksgiving day. We are very thankful to have this place, and that for the most part we get along very well. I'm thankful to be living in such a beautiful place and to have such great friends.

Friday November 23 was a recover from Thanksgiving day. I don't remember what all we accomplished. It was colder that day. We have discussed making the first half of the day from about 9 to noon the gardening/farming portion of our day just to give us structure. However we might have to move that to the warmer part so the day as winter develops.

And TODAY is Saturday November 24. Well it WAS. I see it is now almost 1 am on the 25th. Today Lori got a LOT done with the website. She bought the domain name and created the facebook page. I converted my old blog that I never used into what you are seeing now. We talked about the mission and vision. Lori reminded me a couple of times that we need a logo. Yeah, yeah Lori, I'll get to it : ) We had a visit from Laurel and her boyfriend. I managed to take a 40 minute walk in the neighborhood this afternoon. It was so invigorating. Such a beautiful community it is. I made granola after Camilla and I escaped to Chattanooga for a couple hours. While I was gone I bought 3 bulbs of organic garlic to plant.

Wow does time ever fly. I've already been back in the Chattanooga area for a week. So glad to be back.

We hope you continue to check back with us as we report daily.

Homestead beginning - Welcome

Welcome to our official blog! Lookout Mountain Sustainable Homestead is located in Lookout Mountain, GA on 1.3 acres of land. Currently 3 people live here full time and 2 people come and go. We're just about to launch our new website and when it's ready we'll post the link here. Our website will have our vision along with the current initiatives. We have a LOT of work to do, and our goal is to post what we get done daily so we can see our progress and share our journey in hopes of inspiring others.