3rd Party Debate

We would like to urge everyone out there to watch the 3rd party presidential debate.  These folks have real answers to some tough questions.  They talked about election reform, the war on drugs, foreign policy and education, just to name a few.

 If the above video doesn't work, try going here:
http://bit.ly/RCgCYu

 Please heed the words used by Gary Johnson in his closing statement - The only wasted vote is one cast for a candidate you don't believe in.

Featured in the debate:

Larry King - moderator
Christina Tobin -  Free & Equal representative
Green Party Candidate: Jill Stein, Physician and Harvard graduate
Justice Party Candidate: Rocky Anderson, former Salt Lake City Mayor
Constitution Party Candidate: Virgil Goode, former House Representative for Virginia
Libertarian Party Candidate: Gary Johnson, former New Mexico Governor


It has been announced that Jill Stein and Gary Johnson will be participating in another debate on October 30, we will be sure to link to it as well.

Introduction to Homesteading

We are Captain Galt and Moonbeam Zen, and together we make the Zen Galt Homestead.  It probably won't surprise you at all that these are pseudonyms, but will allow you to identify us when necessary.

We are new to homesteading as well as blogging, so we thought it best to start by introducing ourselves and our homestead that we've called Zen Galt.

I am Moonbeam Zen, I represent the completely inexperienced point of view in all of this.  I grew up living in-town, and had little experience with those that lived elsewhere.  I represent the Zen half of Zen Galt because for me, homesteading is more about staying close to nature and working within natural processes to maintain balance in the body, mind, and soul.  Some may call me a hippie (especially Capt) and I'm okay with that.  I adhere to the eastern philosophy of Taoism which teaches us to live with the land, to be humble, considerate, and keep things as simple as possible.  Because of these beliefs, I consented to move to the country with my country-born husband last year.  We have a small homestead, and all of the concepts are new to me, so I will definitely be learning loads as we go.  I'm happy to be sharing that part of my journey with you.  I am a writer, so much of the posting will likely be done by me.

I am Captain Galt and I represent the slightly more experienced point of view.  I grew up living out in the country, though not on working farm.  While growing up I learned many skills that are fading from our society today.  We always had a big garden where we grew our own vegetables, and as a result of this, I learned about home canning and preserving the harvest.  I also learned skills such as hunting, fishing, butchering, shooting, and general home fix-it skills.  For the purpose of this blog, I will go by the name Captain Galt.  I have chosen this name for two reasons: 1. I have folks that call me Captain as a nickname,  2.  My love of the book Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.  My desire for homesteading comes not only from my upbringing, but also my fear that our society is headed down a dangerous path similar to the one described in the aforementioned novel.  Now I don't want to come off as some crazy person here, I just feel that being as self-sufficient as possible can help a person through tough times.  Those tough times can be brought on by any number of reasons, from natural disasters to personal disasters to economic depressions.

Together, we make quite the couple.  So now that we are here, in the country, we have certain goals we'd like to obtain.

 - Grow and produce as much of our own food as possible.
 - Preserve that food and always have an abundance of it on hand.
 - Reduce our dependence on the power grid, and eventually eliminate it altogether.
 - Prepare nutrition rich wholesome food from scratch.
 - Find ways to save money and still complete our goals.
 - Maintain awareness of current events and continue to promote the libertarian philosophy.

These are obviously quite vague, and we will discuss our plans more in depth in future posts.  
Thank you for joining us!

Captain Galt     &     Moonbeam Zen