About The Gnomestead

thrillhill

thrillhill

Assistant TO The Regional Manager
Staff member
Charter Life Member
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Joined
Dec 17, 2016
Messages
3,568
Location
Chatham County NC
My family and I live a lifestyle that seems to be referred to as "homesteading" nowadays.

I like gnomes and build little "villages" that are scattered out about the property.

Hence, "The Gnomestead".

I was born and raised in the country on a farm in Chatham county and other than a brief "exploratory hiatus" from the ages of 18-23, have continued to reside in the country here in central NC.

I was fortunate to marry a gal who wanted to live the same lifestyle that I grew up in. She wanted large gardens, fruit trees, and animals.

We made a conscious decision 20+ years ago about which path in life we wanted to follow and we stuck with it and expanded our knowledge base beyond what we grew up around.

Our way of life and the accompanying skill sets now seem to be something that folks are interested in learning about.

Going forward, we will be offering classes in wide variety of related subjects. Personally I derive great comfort from the renewed interest of others and am looking forward to working with folks that have such a desire.

The skills and knowledge we've honed over the decades have imparted a great sense of peace and satisfaction to our family that modern times and troubles cannot dampen.

I hope that we can help extend that sense of security and comfort to those who would seek it out.

Welcome to The Gnomestead!


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gimme a hat and i'll blend in. i'm only 5'7"
also, i told my wife that i'm thinking about getting into hunting. she said i'll never do it (you know, with me almost up to year 30 of being a vegetarian for no apparent reason).
wouldn't mind some backwoods flavor of schooling on survival and such, and i'm open to eating meat again if i know what it is, where it came from, how it was harvested, etc.
 
I would love to make it up there again. You have a very awesome place. Learning something would just be a bonus
 
thrillhill said:
Our way of life and the accompanying skill sets now seem to be something that folks are interested in learning about.
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I consider what you’ve accomplished and the skills you’ve developed as a goal I try to strive for. If you start offering classes, i will be an eager student.
 
Based on this post alone, you will hopefully end up with a fantastic variety of Gnomes at your place over what you already have. I have a couple decent ones at the house but will be on the lookout for one to bring out to your place.

Also looking forward to classes for myself and family. We need to learn some new skills.
 
C-doodle said:
Interested to hear what kind of classes. Been meaning to come hang out anyways.
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It'd be good to see you and your wife again.

I knew I had to get off my butt and start posting on here when the first class got full via word of mouth.

That class is a half day "goat processing" deal. Skinning, and quartering etc.
Then the students come back the following weekend after the meat has drained and spend time with Becky in the kitchen and learn how to break it down for cooking and/or storage prep.

I think the next class we'll offer is gonna be a "foraging" class. Walking the woods, learning to ID and harvest medicinal and edible plant, mushrooms, barks etc. Really hands on type instruction and I imagine we are gonna want to keep the class size to around 5 or 6 folks max at a time.

There will be "woodscraft" classes as well as "bushcraft" specific. A LOT of the bushcraft and homesteading and hunting and farming as well as gardening and animal husbandry will of course overlap genres at times.

We're gonna try our best to line up some deer cleaning and processing classes, but it may have to be done like an email blast to those interested when we get one so folks who are free can come over spur of the moment.

There will be food preservation classes. Beginning and Advanced canning for sure.

We're planning some fairly in depth "firestarting and firestarting materials" style classes.

Chicken and rabbit processing. Maybe some hide preservation.

Knife sharpening classes.

We may offer some instruction that is fishing and hunting related. You'd maybe be shocked at the amount of adults I have taken fishing for the first time and taught them to clean their catch and then we cook and eat it. Always a lot of fun. Hunting has some legal issues I need to navigate before I offer anything there. It can be done, I just need to make sure I'm staying on the correct side of the line there.

We've also started having folks involved in an almost CSA style monthly subscription deal where they sign up for a set amount of certain homestead items that we have in abundance. Eggs, fruits, vegetables, and other goods. We'll probably expand on that especially with the local folks or students that like it enough to venture out at least once per month.

I've been selling "gift" buckets of cedar kindling and very finely processed bundles or jars of lightered/fatwood around the holidays for select folks. We are going public with that shortly.

I sharpen knives for folks as part of our homesteading income.

And one thing I'm getting into really caught me by surprise. There are 2 or 3 younger folks that are really wanting to learn a lot of this stuff but don't have anyone to teach them. They are young adults and already know guns. That's how we met. And they've kinda learned how to hunt. But they don't know skinning and cleaning and processing. They pay me a "retainer fee" of $20 per month. If they kill a deer they get to come over and pay me $80 to give them a one on one lesson. The second time, they only pay $50 and I expect them to go "hands on". After that, if they still lack confidence they can come over and we do it together for $40 a pop as many times as they want. I'd have never thought of doing something like that. It was their idea!

I could see getting into something similar (not the retainer) helping people with their chickens and other farm animals. Legally I can't "process" it for you. But in the parameters of a class we certainly can process whatever we want.

Those of you that know me, know that money has never really been my big motivator. I've taught dozens of folks all this stuff over the years for free simply because they wanted to learn. But times are changing, and I'm a little more guarded of my "free time". But if that time can help generate some funds to help improve and expand our infrastructure here on The Gnomestead I think it's a win win situation.

A lot of these classes will include meals cooked over the firebowl. And I'm sure some will end and then we have an informal bourbon by the fire tasting! LOL!

I'm excited about letting our gnomestead, love and knowledge and experience of subject matter, and a desire to pass some older skills on so that they don't disappear, actually help generate some income for improvements. I think it might become a self perpetuating loop. Classes/products generate some income to expand, class offerings expand, and so on and so forth.

That being said, if anyone who is so inclined would like to suggest or request a particular kind of instruction that you don't see mentioned, feel free to speak up! I take a lot of these skills for granted and sometimes don't realize what exactly folks might want guidance on.

And one on one sessions will certainly be an option if so desired!
 
thrillhill said:
My family and I live a lifestyle that seems to be referred to as "homesteading" nowadays.

I like gnomes and build little "villages" that are scattered out about the property.

Hence, "The Gnomestead".

I was born and raised in the country on a farm in Chatham county and other than a brief "exploratory hiatus" from the ages of 18-23, have continued to reside in the country here in central NC.

I was fortunate to marry a gal who wanted to live the same lifestyle that I grew up in. She wanted large gardens, fruit trees, and animals.

We made a conscious decision 20+ years ago about which path in life we wanted to follow and we stuck with it and expanded our knowledge base beyond what we grew up around.

Our way of life and the accompanying skill sets now seem to be something that folks are interested in learning about.

Going forward, we will be offering classes in wide variety of related subjects. Personally I derive great comfort from the renewed interest of others and am looking forward to working with folks that have such a desire.

The skills and knowledge we've honed over the decades have imparted a great sense of peace and satisfaction to our family that modern times and troubles cannot dampen.

I hope that we can help extend that sense of security and comfort to those who would seek it out.

Welcome to The Gnomestead!


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I look forward to helping y'all get this off the ground... Prepping for classes, getting the word out, whatever y'all need. It's definitely gonna be an adventure!
 
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Love it, back woods entrepreneur. And you're 100% right, none of us have as much “free” time as we once thought we would.
 
As to the gnomes … my neighbor has a few her kids wanted. When they first got them the kids were like 5, 7 & 9 years old. I told them the gnomes roam at night when it’s just moon light. They laughed and didn’t believe me … until the gnomes started moving around (with a little help). The best “move” was when we had a rainy week and the gnomes took shelter on their back screened in porch. Man, kids at that age are so much fun … esp when they’re someone else’s day to day responsibility and you just get to mess with ‘em 😈
 
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NCFubar said:
… esp when they’re someone else’s day to day responsibility and you just get to mess with ‘em 😈
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You’ll make a fine grandfather one day. This was my gift from the daughter-in-law last fathers day.

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A couple of things worth mentioning as we move forward. As stated, the motivation to make some "side money" is rooted in a desire to shore up and expand.

That being said, there'll be an array of "currency" I would accept.

Cash, electronic, silver, barter, or labor.

And honestly, if payment is a problem, or you think the prices are too high, we aren't gonna turn anyone away who wants to learn.



Another point worth noting.

As of yet, we don't have a "legal" or "inspectable" area to process food that would straight up allow us to sell a processed product. We hope to add that option within the next year or two.

In the meantime, there ARE legal loopholes that I will wholeheartedly exploit to work towards that end.
Prime example being those folks that want to buy raw goat milk. I can sell it but must label it "Not for Human Consumption".

If you want a jar of our green beans, pickled okra, blackberry preserves, or a cleaned ready to cook chicken, we can make it happen. It might have to be in the course of a class, or barter situation to stay legal. But it can happen.
 
thrillhill said:
A couple of things worth mentioning as we move forward. As stated, the motivation to make some "side money" is rooted in a desire to shore up and expand.

That being said, there'll be an array of "currency" I would accept.

Cash, electronic, silver, barter, or labor.

And honestly, if payment is a problem, or you think the prices are too high, we aren't gonna turn anyone away who wants to learn.



Another point worth noting.

As of yet, we don't have a "legal" or "inspectable" area to process food that would straight up allow us to sell a processed product. We hope to add that option within the next year or two.

In the meantime, there ARE legal loopholes that I will wholeheartedly exploit to work towards that end.
Prime example being those folks that want to buy raw goat milk. I can sell it but must label it "Not for Human Consumption".

If you want a jar of our green beans, pickled okra, blackberry preserves, or a cleaned ready to cook chicken, we can make it happen. It might have to be in the course of a class, or barter situation to stay legal. But it can happen.
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Just like our Grandparents and Great Grandparents did.
 
BASIL said:
"We're planning some fairly in depth "firestarting and firestarting materials" style classes."

I love learning primitive fire making.
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Every time I start a fire with flint and steel and kindling it's so satisfying. Been a few years now mind you.
 
BASIL said:
My goal is to make fire with 100% natural ingredients. ;)
I have made and used a fire piston. But that's a primitive as I have been able to make fire.
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I've done it with a bow, some Mullein stalk, a piece of notched flat poplar and a cut off shotgun shell I found near the camp site.
Didn't really take that long or a helluva lotta effort. I did cheat and load the bow with some paracord that was scavenged from the woods.
I'm lookin forward to some foraging instruction.
I hafta carry a small library out shroomin and my plant/tree ID skills are very weak. 🥴 😁:cool:
 
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