Spend much time in the country, especially as a homesteader, and you will need boots. It’s easy enough to find good boots for men, a little more difficult for women. We prefer to buy American made products whenever we can. Red Wing are the boots of choice for my husband. I haven’t settled on any for me yet. Any suggestions for good quality, American made boots?
The biggest dilemma is boots for our children. Ordinarily with shoes and a larger family, you go for quality — once they’re outgrown, someone younger can still wear them. We have found this is not something we can count on with boots. Whether we buy the more expensive or the cheaper boots, they just don’t last.
Boots, it seems, are disposable. We have settled for buying the cheap black muck boots and replacing them each year. We do still have the littlest pair we bought. They are now on their third wearer (the three year old). I guess the little ones just are not as tough on their boots as the bigger children.
Another “B” important for our homestead is buckets. We have a good supply of 2 1/2 gallon pails (with lids). These pails are used to carry water and feed for the livestock and dogs. Their usefulness doesn’t end there though. The small bucket is the perfect size for collecting eggs. You could even use one turned on the side as a nest box in a pinch.
We also keep a bucket with all the necessary items for fence repair. After storms especially this comes in handy when you walk the fence to inspect for damage. Just carry that bucket along and you won’t be making multiple trips back to the barn.
Those same buckets come in handy for other things as well. We’ve used them for countless nature study projects. They make a great home for tadpoles.
Buckets make interesting forms for snowmen or building forts. Great fun for children who’ve never been to a beach!
We’ve also used buckets to store things in the pantry. From grains for long term storage to open packages of this and that, buckets keep things organized. It’s nice to keep things handy to carry into the kitchen and mouse-free when on the shelf. Buckets are beautiful!
