Anyone living off the land?

[pattersonml]

Alright, I just wanted to post something earlier real fast since you were talking about trees with supports, but let me go into a little something here. Newbie, I know where you are coming from living in SoCal, I grew up in Texas and after I served in the Corps and was stationed in 29 Palms, I stayed out there for a while in San Bernardino. I did a lot of work in El Centro, and I am also Native American like your husband, and got frustrated with the constant opening lines when people greeted me to be in Spanish (I began by responding with "Hai, genki desu, ogenki desu ka", I was stationed in Japan for a while as well.)
Now, I live in Tennessee and though I have no chance at decent Mexican food, which Chicken-Lady13 can attest to, has family which is near by where I live. The population is friendly here, and the chance for racism is very rare here. We have about 13 acres of land which we are repairing from years of neglect and we are trying to do everything in a way that could be seen as conforming to nature instead of cutting everything down. We have natural plants that grow here that we cook can can as well such as miner's cabbage and polk weed as well as dandelions that we can use for greens as well. We also utilize natural farming for growing our gardens. We use a mixture of wood ash and bone meal for fertilizer along with our stored chicken scat and compost at the beginnings of the season, and use marigolds for pesticides along with companion planting to have our plants grow to their fullest capabilities, my biggest problem was getting out there and getting the zucchinis before they grew longer than my femur.
Property in the Middle Tennessee area is fairly cheap compared to lots in California and if you are in the medical field, I know that Tennessee is a compact state with California as well so license transfer is not an issue either.

 

[chicken-lady13]

I truly miss my Tennessee home! Kentucky is home now! At least it is still a lot like being in Tennessee. I hate the state tax deal here and the higher insurance rates though.

 

[chicken-lady13]

My husband is half Native American. His mother was Cherrokee. All his brothers and his sister look like mom, but not him. He got the recessive gene . His dad Scottish. Well anyway he is tall, well built, hairy, dark complected, blue eyed man. Every body thinks he was adopted , until they see his dads side of the family. I really think Newbie would love Tennessee to. I believe the cost of living in Tennessee

 

[chicken-lady13]

OOPS ! I done it again. Well as I was saying. Tennessee & Kentucky are two of the states that the cost of living is some of the cheapest in the nation. The utilities are some of the cheapest in the nation as well. Let's not forget , the land , wildlife and the climate provides just about everything we need to support our families. The people are a wonderful bonus to . The best neighbors and friends you could hope for. It is truly GOD'S Country.

 

[newbie32]

Okay first: Thanks for the tip on the garden hose but I don't have an old one-can I use something else?

2nd: Turkey sounds intimidating but once you have done it you will realize how easy it is. Just make sure to clean it out and put plenty of butter on it a few times.

3rd: welcome to the thread and I LOVE the pics!!! I am glad you are an awesome grower-and you are not alone with strawberries. My grandma always grew raspberries in Denver because they are less fickle, you might want to try them.

4th: I am fairly close to 29 palms-about an hour and a half. basically I am between 29 palms and El Centro so yeah you know what I mean. YAY someone that knows

makes me happy!!!!!!!! BTW we are not actively looking for a place right now. We were, but lost some funding

 

[pattersonml]

I understand the funding, and as far as the hose goes, anything you can get between the sapling and the twine, rope, string (whatever is used to support the tree.) Some individuals use cloths wrapped around the twine to keep space between the twine and tree.

 

[newbie32]

I understand the funding, and as far as the hose goes, anything you can get between the sapling and the twine, rope, string (whatever is used to support the tree.) Some individuals use cloths wrapped around the twine to keep space between the twine and tree.

okay I can do the cloth no problem. What I was really curious about is if I need to raise the stack higher so the tree can grow higher. I don't want my tree to not be able to climb higher. Also, when can I take the stake off-if at all? Remember this is a dwarf avocado tree. It will remain in the large pot for its whole life.

 

[pattersonml]

okay I can do the cloth no problem. What I was really curious about is if I need to raise the stack higher so the tree can grow higher. I don't want my tree to not be able to climb higher. Also, when can I take the stake off-if at all? Remember this is a dwarf avocado tree. It will remain in the large pot for its whole life.

The stake is just to ensure to stabilize it so it does not fall over and does not affect the growth for the avocado tree.

 

[newbie32]

All of my gardening efforts failed miserably!!! My tomato plant was gobbled up by the chickens before I could save it. My banana dwarf suffered the same fate. My avocado is not doing well at all-not sure what the problem is. All of the veggies I planted didn't even sprout except the lettuce but it hasn't grown other than a few little green pieces sticking out.

My chickens seem to stay alive but I think its because they drink water and eat when they need it. A plant doesn't have that luxury. I just cant seem to master the art of water I guess. I either water too much or too little.

I was checking into easy breezy stuff I can do that will cost little to nothing and still help my family. The avocado was supposed to be that but darn thing is turning brown.

Any suggestions on ANYTHING I can do to get closer to self sustainment that is foul proof?-since I am hopeless.

Oh I did figure out how to crochet-woot!!! It is easy and calming and fun!!!

 

[pattersonml]

For starters, failure is a farmers best teacher.

Let's begin with the tomato and banana dwarf plants, Using a boundary of chicken wire fencing around the garden will keep the hennies from having free food at their feet. Once the plants get larger then you can allow your fowl friends into it to provide a little fertilizing for fruits of your labor. The best thing you you bought the plants as sproutlings from a greenhouse of nursery is to wait til they are waist high before letting your birds in to start scratching for worms. Also make sure the tomatoes are staked properly and have a bit chicken wire running around them as well, this creates somewhat of a topiary out of the red delectables but it also protects the main stalk from any unwanted pecking.

Next you need to find out exactly how your ground is on water retention, I no you are south of Indio so everyone is going to say that it soaks it up like a sponge and yes this is true, the top layer is like a dry sponge tossed in a cup of water, but what about down below. You need to dig a 1 foot by 1 foot by 1 foot hole and fill it with water, time how long it takes for the water to completely be absorbed by the ground out of the hole. If it takes longer than 20 minutes, you have too much clay in your soil and need to add half sand to any holes you dig for planting, and you need to dig the holes deeper than you normally would to compensate for the sand, remember roots grow down, and this helps prevent root rot. If the water goes through like a seive, add clay to hole like you would do with the sand. This allows the soil to retain the water until the plants can use it.

If your leaves are turning brown on the avocado tree, are they wilting or drooping. This could be from under or over watering. Also, I found in SoCal, that the best time to water was always between and 2 in the mornings during the summer time and either 7-8 in the morning or 6-7 in the evenings. I watered for roughly 20 minutes every day to keep everything green.

Lastly any veggies you plant out there are probably not going to be heat hardy or sun hardy. A light muslin tarp may need to be hung at a compass reading of 172 degrees SSW with a slope of about 12 degrees about 6 feet above the garden to prevent "heat stroke" I know this sounds like a lot but like I said before, failure is a farmers best teacher.

If you want the easy peasy way, start your plants in pots and keep them in a shaded area during the heat of the day and move them around in the mornings and evenings, after a month and a half if they are roughly knee height you should be able to transfer them to regular soil. Also, checking with your local co-op about who grows what when might give you an idea of the best plants to grow at what times.