Dust and Roots Farm
our homestead
We are not Ignoring what is Going on behind us… it was a Live Training Burn I put on for the Department!
Welcome
Welcome to Dust and Roots Farm. We are David and Kristine; we live in a rural part of south western New Hampshire. We are older… well, at least I am; Kristine is quite a bit younger. We are empty nesters, the kids are grown. I’m a mostly retired firefighter/EMT and fire service instructor. Kristine was a volunteer firefighter/EMT for 15 years and is still working full time in human services. We are working our way towards becoming more independent, self sufficient and reliant… in effect homesteaders. We bought our new house in 2016. We only have a couple of acres on a quiet back road. Our house is very “green”, we are going solar in the spring of 2022, we grow a lot of our own food and have started sawing our own lumber as well.
So this is the life path we have started on. The website is going to be divided into different topics or areas of interest to make it easier to navigate rather than one endless blog. There are entries about what we are building, growing, cooking and creating. Friends have asked us to review farm equipment, chainsaws, tools and the like…we will be happy to. There will be entries about other parts of our lives like the fire service, fitness and a little bit about how we see our place in the world. We will include lots of pictures to show what we are doing. We hope there will be something of interest for a lot of different folks. There is another page titled About Us; that will give you a more complete explanation of what we are doing. Please check it out.
We would like this website to be a resource and a robust conversation with you our readers. We are not going to allow any advertising on this site. No ugly ads, no annoying pop-ups. We are pretty handy (building, gardening, cooking, firewood harvesting, etc) but still have so much to learn. We invite your input, your knowledge and ideas in the comments. To that end, we would be grateful if you would sign up with your email and share this site with friends if you like what you see. We will not pass your email to anyone; you will simply receive our newsletter a few times a year updating you on what’s going on at Dust and Roots.
So thank you for taking the time to stop by and take a look. We hope to see you again and hear from you. We are very open to suggestions on things you would like to see from us. Be safe and take care of yourselves.
Thank you,
David and Kristine
Featured
2024 Monadstock V
In 2011, we hosted a backyard concert at our home in the Monadnock region of NH, calling it “Monadstock.” It ran for three years on Labor Day weekend, featuring local musicians and food from Fedder’s Famous Smokehouse, drawing 70–90 people annually. After taking a break in 2014 due to work, we revived Monadstock in 2023 and plan to continue the tradition for years to come.
What’s up with the Old Tractors?
Several people have asked me recently “What’s up with the old tractors? You have a couple of new ones, what are you going to do with the antiques?” And sometimes they throw in “and what exactly is Dust and Roots about?” Fair question, but for many I have found there...
On Being Nature’s Steward
My father loved reptiles and passed his interest on to my brother and me. In hindsight I’m not sure but there may be some deep symbolism in his affection for these cold blooded creatures. He grew up in a hugely dysfunctional family that he rarely spoke about and never...
Going Solar
We have wanted to go solar for a while. Several factors contributed to doing it now. Solar is not cheap, so money was a factor. However, there is a 26% federal tax credit available now; we are saving a quarter of the cost. Deciding when to jump into the evolving...
Honest Work and Other Ruminations
I was talking with someone the other day and the business of cutting your own firewood came up. They asked why I was willing to put in so much effort, especially at my age, into generating firewood. Was it economical? Well… it will be someday I answered weakly, after...
A New Kind of Garden
In the spring of 2020, the first pandemic spring, we put in a new and innovative garden at our house. I have gardened off and on across my lifetime. Kristine and I had a small garden at our old house. For the last couple of years Kristine had a plot at the community...