About this site

Ken Rawlins

I grow up in Southern California (SoCal). I have been fishing since I was young. My scoutmaster LeRoy Langness taught me how to fish and I have enjoyed it ever since. LeRoy taught me how to tie fishing knots and has taken me to a lot of fishing holes and lakes including the High Sierras. He also taught me how to back pack, hike, shoot, and enjoy nature. My mother's family comes from pioneer stock and have been in Southern Utah since the days of Brigham Young. They settled the muddy river and raised sheep for many generations along with fighting for water rights up Cedar Breaks and later switched to cattle as it was more profitable. The Sorensen women on the other hand were rosarians and my mother taught the family how to take care of roses along with a friend from the islands Albert Funga who was a rosarian. I have been involved in Scouting for most of my life. Shelly needed a Shooting Sport instructor for her Cubs Scout programs. No one else wanted to do it, so I got the opportunity. I flew into Hawaii and learned to shoot (shotgun, rifle, bow in arrow, and range range safety officer) in the jungles of Hawaii.

Shelly Rawlins

I was born in Wyoming and grew up in Montana. I was the oldest of seven children and we had chores in the garden we planted to help feed all of us. My grandmother in Wyoming had multiple gardens and green houses and grew all types of plants and seeds for seed companies and others in the community. She was always busy growing, canning, and preserving food. I can remember all male members of the family getting together and going hunting. Then, when they got back they split up the meat they got on the hunt. We were always canning a preserving items from our garden or canning meat etc. My father would work for a farmer for eggs and half a steer along with his normal job as mechanic at the Coal Mine. I worked with the Boy Scouts of America and was a program director over Resident Camp, director over Cub Scout Day Camps, helped with Cub Scout Camping program. In short, everything Cub Scouting including events with four though plus boys and parents.

Family

When we were newly marriage we find out Shelly needed more iron in her diet. To help with this we started using cast iron exclusively. We have been using Dutch Ovens and cast iron skillets for a long time. All back packing gear doubled as emergency preparedness gear. We believe in emergency preparedness, prepping, and self-reliance. Our homestead currently has three dogs two Siberian Huskies and one Australian Shepherd.

We are a three generation Eagle Scout family with four boys. All of us have belonged to Order of the Arrow even Shelly. Welcome to Tiny Desert Homestead!