Big Life Decisions Ahead (Austin)

A brief update on all homesteading things that's gone on lately:
Our beloved baby rabbit from the most recent video post, despite our best efforts, mysteriously died overnight even though it was living in the heat of my bedroom. I'm not sure what it was lacking, but you can't fix dead. So we decided that we will definitely not be attempting breeding until late winter so that by the time babies are born, spring should be rolling in.

Video update

This video on the link below was taken this last Friday, and I've been continuing to do this every day with success so even though it was a bummer to lose the babies again, we learned a few things about Georgia's parenting techniques and we're really glad that we were able to catch this one in time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsSY0rQojt8

We Did It Again! (Austin)

I know it's been a while, and I owe you a few updated posts on some things. But this one is simple. We just want to announce that Georgia has given birth again! I count six squirming little babies buried in her nesting box and all snuggled together amidst a gratuitous amount of fur. Georgia seems to be taking good care of them so far, so we'll see how this round turns out. It already started out significantly better than the last time, we didn't have to pull any babies out of the cage wire (last time, there were two) and they were all nicely placed in the middle of her nesting box and covered with nesting fur. Whenever anybody goes in to check on them/care for the other rabbits, she always pokes her head in to make sure that they're still there and kicking. So here's hoping this litter survives! Stay tuned, more updates on other things to follow!

Sad News to Declare (Lauren)

Hey everybody,
remember how excited I was about Georgia's little miracles?

We Did It! (Lauren)

GUYS, GUYS. GUESS WHAT. WE DID IT.

WE. DID. IT.

WE ARE OFFICIALLY... (wait for it...) ... GRANDPARENTS!

Yaaaaaay! Okay, so, we're excited. Obviously.

It was Georgia that spawned these:

Beginning Aquaponics (Austin)

Alright, I'm finally getting to build my aquaponics system! I've been looking forward to it for a while and though it'll probably be a little rough at first figuring out all the nuances a system like this has, I'm excited nonetheless. Below is a photo of roughly what the system will look like so you have an idea. The plumbing and pumps and such are not installed yet, and I'll take step-by-step photos so y'all can see how I do it.

Business and Future Projects (Austin)

Alright, I apologize that it's been over a month since we've posted anything. School finally started back up and it's been pretty busy. Since Lauren and I are both officers in our campus archery club, that takes up a lot of our out-of-class time. But it's going well. There hasn't really been much time for significant homesteading endeavors lately, but that's about to change.

The Redneck Express 2.0 (Austin)

This one is just a quick one. Last week I built a new run for the rabbits, because the old one was made of poor quality materials and they were outgrowing it. They could barely do their happy, "I'm out of my cage!" jumps without running into a wall or the net, so it was time their playground expanded. I made it out of a couple spare boards from a wooden pallet and the backs/seats of some repurposed church pews my roommate randomly procured in June. He'd planned to make a bookshelf out of them, but ended up buying some from a friend and told me I could use them for whatever. This seemed like an appropriate project, although this new playground is significantly heavier than the first.

My Homestead Vision: Why Bison? (Austin)

If you're reading this, I'll assume you're somewhat interested in my homesteading endeavors; and if you're interested in my homesteading endeavors, I assume we've had this conversation before. But just in case, here is my explanation for why I have elected to aspire to ranching buffalo. Be warned: this is one of my longer posts.
When I tell people that I want to ranch bison, I get a lot of weird looks. Particularly from people with cattle experience. "Why not just raise cattle?" There are a few reasons and, while there are definitely some differences in approach, I feel like bison are more suitable to me and to my aspirations for the future.

My Homestead Vision: Composting Toilets (Austin)

If you see a post with the title My Homestead Vision, that means it'll be me showing you something that I intend to make a part of the stead and explaining it to you in some extent of detail so you can understand what I'm aiming for. The first edition of the series: toilets.

Log Home Inspiration (Austin)

This will just be a quick post, I promise. If you're wondering about the sudden stop in blog posts, it's because there hasn't been a whole lot of exciting news to report. I just got a part time job, school is about to start up, and the rabbits are finally showing signs of sexual maturity and breeding attempts. That's about it.
But I wanted to share this link because it gives a very good idea of what I envision as far as the log home I want to build the homestead from. Mine won't have the contrasting timber-framing or a second floor at all, but the color and cuts of the logs are pretty much exactly what I plan for and the interiors are gorgeous. Granted, the house in the article has only an outhouse for doing your necessaries, but don't worry; I'm not that determined to be 19th century authentic.
This house is a fully functioning homestead with gardens and livestock on 160 acres. And they built it themselves with no prior construction experience. It took them 30 years, but I am nonetheless inspired by it and know that it can be done much quicker. So without further ado, here is a preview of the type of home I wish my homestead to have.

http://www.loghome.com/off-the-grid-diy-log-cabin/

What the Buck?! (Lauren)

Seriously guys... Seriously... What is going on with these rabbits? We were all prepared to get another doe and trying to figure out what to do with Fabio since George was obviously our dominant male who was doing all the mating but these rabbits seem to rival Austin in the ways of psychological trickery.

Project Complete (Austin)

Yesterday I finally finished the rabbit hutch (two months later). The third cage with nesting box is now in the top portion, and Jane is occupying her spacious new penthouse suite.
Since we figured out the truth about Bi-Curious George, we wanted to get Jane moved out

Bi-Curious Bunny Confusion (Lauren)

So, you might be able to guess what this is about due to the title. But I'll continue to tell you about it anyway. You know how we had two does (the grey/silver ones) and one buck (the white one)? Weeeelllll... It seems we may have been wrong about that. Today, Curious Georgia turned into Bi-Curious George.

The Coon Wars: First Blows (Austin & Lauren)

This entry is more of an entertaining narrative than a simple photo post. So please don't be intimidated by the text:photo ratio of this post; I will make it worth your while.
Our apartment has four raccoons that live in the ceiling and scratch around in the walls. It gets mildly aggravating during the day and it keeps some of the good folks here awake at night. I had said that I'd help try and deal with them when the time was right and had made comments about making a coonskin cap from whatever I caught. I'm not really sure how serious I was initially. But last night, it all changed. Last night, opportunity arose and we struck the first official blow of the Coon Wars.

Harvest: 5 July, 2013 (Austin)

Okay, so I know that the post I just put up before this was a lot of reading. This is just the opposite: a few quick photos of what we brought home from the garden today and will be enjoying for supper tonight!

Planning Floors (Austin)

I found a website that has a free floor plan creator on it which allows you draw up your own ideas and submit them to the company (Southland Log Homes out of North Carolina) to get priced, or to take them elsewhere. So I have spent a decent amount of time drawing up various ideas and probably have eight different plans, but the more I do it the more I can feel myself having a better idea of what would be best for this homesteading dream of mine. I know a lot of it will depend on the land I end up getting, but at least getting a feel for how all the necessary pieces fit together can happen now. Below is my most recent creation and I very much like it. Some things that might strike you as strange will be explained briefly.

Welcome to the Jungle (Austin)

We worked hard today. Our community garden had a few extra plots available that they offered up for free, so we took one. Today we went to check it out and pull weeds, but we had no idea what we were in for. In hindsight, we should've brought a machete.

This was what we had to work with: a 10 x 20 ft jungle of clover, crab grass, sunflower plants, and a

Bunnies and Mulberries (Barely Any Reading, I Swear) (Lauren)

This will be a quick post, but its adorable-ness speaks volumes. Also, a picture is worth a thousand words, right?

Our Redneck Express Run (Lauren)

So, I know Austin already posted about the run and enthused a little but, I want to give my take on the story too! I have to write a few more posts to catch up to him (it's like some weird unspoken competition between us). Also, I'll write this so all of you lucky readers can learn a little more about the bunny run and its makers!

The Redneck Express (Austin)

If you've looked at the photo of our rabbit hutches, you'll see they stand on caged floors. That's okay and isn't bad for them. But we wanted to give them a break and have the chance to get onto the grass and relax their feet, as well as play together. So we decided to make a simple, lightweight rabbit run (like a chicken run, but not for chickens). Today we started and finished our latest project, and as you can probably guess from the photo below it didn't take too much time to get done.

Setting Down Our First Roots (Lauren)

I warned Austin. I swear I did (at least seven times) to NOT trust me with any plants. Not one. Not ever. But he's stubborn and didn't heed my warning and we were off to the community garden within a week of the last frost (well, hailstorm actually).

It Is the Rabbits (Austin)

Our most recent addition to the urban homestead is a collection of three rabbits. Okay, so they're not tactical attack rabbits like the one pictured above, but we are really excited about them nonetheless. In our area, there are no chickens or ducks or anything like that allowed within the city limits because they make noise and raise a stink very quickly. But rabbits are have no current litigation against them

We Started with Worms (Austin)

I had done a lot of reading about homesteading and self-sufficiency for a while before I realized that I felt the call to do it. But when I felt God's purpose for me take a turn towards this path we're on, I

Baby Steps (Austin)

Since this is the premiere entry in this blog, I imagine that most folks who read this will already know my girlfriend and I as well as our situation. If so, feel free to skip the next paragraph.

We are college students at the University of Northern Iowa. Neither of us grew up on a farm or really has any agricultural experience. We have no land to our names, and right now we just live in regular apartments and dorms like most college students do. But we are working and saving for an acreage