About Grant Homesteading Handbook | Welcome to Our Homestead Journey Hello and welcome to Homesteading Handbook! My name is Grant Rayner. My wife Penelope and I moved out to Canada’s east coast in March, 2023 from London, Ontario. We’re located in the Upper St. John River Valley of western New Brunswick about a football field from the border with the State of Maine. The region is part of the Appalachian Highlands so the terrain is scenic but pretty rugged and the soil is pretty rocky. Back in London, we had a postage-sized garden in the back yard and, though it was small, it produced really well for us over the years. Accordingly, when we arrived at our little slice of the Garden of Eden, one of the first things we did was dig up a garden. As I said the ground is pretty rocky so our roto-tiller didn’t survive long so we had to get a new one. Once we had the garden dug, the first year we put in green, yellow and bush beans, tomatoes, green peppers and squash. There are a few varieties venomous spiders in New Brunswick and I took a nasty, and worrisome, spider bite while I was pulling the weeds out of the freshly tilled garden. Luckily, the swelling went down within a couple of hours so the trip to the hospital two hours away wasn’t necessary. Lesson learned though! Long sleeves and gloves on from now on! A first aid kit is an absolute necessity for anyone contemplating their own homestead. No city water out here. Our supply comes from a well so watching our use of water is necessary. We now have four rain barrels to catch the rainwater from the downspouts from the eaves . That water keeps the garden moist so we don’t have to tax the well. The Brown Recluse Meet the Gardener | Lawyer to Homesteader Our decision to leave the city life behind and embrace homesteading was the best decision we ever made. Although I’m 71 and Penelope is 61, we got fit darn quick this past year. Maintaining the grounds and the garden is physical but, honestly, I haven’t felt this good in decades. After 38+ years as a practicing attorney, I truly believe this move was a life-saver and not just in terms of physical health. We’re pretty isolated out here so all you can hear are the birds singing and the wind through the trees! This dramatic change in lifestyle became the vision and mission behind Homesteading Handbook. Life here is simple but the rewards are great. We have two Northern Spy apple trees on the property so, end of September, we got the ladder out and started pickin’. Penelope canned a few batches of apple sauce and she also has a vacuum sealer so she cored and sliced a bunch of apples, put them in bags, sealed them up and they went into the freezer as well. We have raspberry plants all around the property as well. Our Path to Food Self-Sufficiency There is a dirt road on the south side of our property that leads to a massive potato field about 150 yards behind the house. When the farmer finished harvesting and moved his heavy equipment out, I took a walk down that path with our two dogs and, if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes I never would have believed it. There were potatoes lying around everywhere. We now know that people go pickin’ after the farmers finish harvesting. I took four full wheelbarrow’s full of fresh potatoes out of that field. Penelope baked ’em, mashed ’em and made french fries out of ’em. We have four freezers so, after a pretty good harvest out of the garden, they were getting full pretty fast! We’re now in the process of constructing 20′ x 5′ hugelkulture raised gardens and doubling the size of our existing garden for next spring’s planting. Our aim is to become food self-sufficient. We started with a conventional garden that first year but, in the summer of 2022, I built three hugelkulture raised gardens. Last year, I added two raised gardens built with standard concrete blocks. The plan for this year is a chicken coop and, to supply energy, solar panels on the roofs of the house and garage to provide us with power. Our vision of sustainability, self-sufficiency and self-reliance is going to be the theme behind our Homesteading Handbook brand. Life with Malachi and Elijah | Our Boys Our canine companions, Malachi and Elijah get two walks every day down that farmer’s road and they love every minute of it. No leashes, just freedom to run and we love that they have that freedom out here. Malachi is a Glen of Imaal Terrier and a bit of a roughneck. Glens were bred to hunt badgers and foxes on the farms in County Wicklow in Ireland. He’s build like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson! Our younger boy Elijah is a Maremma Sheepdog crossed with a Bernese Mountain Dog. He’s built like a Maremma but he’s mostly black like a Bernese. This guy runs like an antelope! We know that many are considering making the move away from the city. If you are considering this change in lifestyle for yourself, we would love to have you explore the homesteading adventure with us at: homesteading.betterhealthbetteryou.com Grant Rayner