Once the most important aspects of the driveway were complete, the other major project that we needed our bulldozer contractor to focus on was building the farm pond. Clinton and Ed Cockriel from Ed Cockriel & Son Dozer and Backhoe Services have years of experience in pond building in the Western Kentucky area. We appreciate…
Several months ago, Philip met with Clifton Cockriel of Ed Cockriel & Son Dozer and Backhoe Services to get an estimate to tackle a few of the larger tasks on the homestead. One of the biggest jobs we needed to complete was building a new driveway all the way to the building site of our…
Philip and I traveled to Kowalski Mountain for the Spring Workcation just in time for Easter. While it would only be the two of us for dinner, I still wanted to make something special. We raise or hunt almost all our meat, so I rarely purchase meat at the grocery store. However, a few times…
Philip and I spent a little over a week in mid-April on the homestead for the Spring 2022 Workcation. The Spring Workcation started out with some pretty emergent items that needed attention ASAP. We received some security camera photos before we left that revealed that our canopy that covers the RV was damaged. It was…
One of the biggest misconceptions about off-grid living is the idea that people who live off-grid live primitively. By definition, “off-grid” means not depending on public utilities, especially the supply of electricity. That doesn’t mean that we don’t use electricity, it just means that we supply our power needs in another way. At Kowalski Mountain,…
As Philip and I get closer to making Kowalski Mountain our permanent home, we strive to prepare the homestead for the self-sufficient lifestyle that we are pursuing. Since grapes take about 3 years to bear fruit, now is the time to begin planting the homestead vineyard. Philip has been dabbling in grapes for several years. …
Building a homestead is a big task no matter where you live, most people don’t walk into a ready-made farm. Even if you have basic infrastructure on your property, customizing the farm to meet your needs and vision takes time. In our case, our homestead is over 700 miles away! Building a homestead long distance…
As Philip and I continue the process of building the homestead infrastructure, our goal is to build completely off-grid. That will include solar electricity and possibly wind-generated power. For water, our initial plan was to install a well that we hoped to power with a windmill. However, after getting a sample of our neighbor’s water,…
We are absolutely thrilled to have added the Woodland Mills HM130 MAX sawmill to the homestead. Being able to mill our own lumber opens a world of possibilities. Our 68-acre property is approximately 80% wooded, so we have an abundance of raw material to work with. Harvesting timber from the property is part of healthy…
The first Winter Workcation of 2022 is in the books! Philip and I spent the end of February and the first week of March at the farm. I call them workcations because even though they are technically a vacation, I work much harder on the homestead than I do back at work! I have a…
