Homesteaders

I'm leaning toward something like this with hail netting instead of shade cloth. I did this last year with plastic sheeting and it worked great as a row cover to extend the season, it protected my starts from a late snow, kept transplants from being sunburnt, and warmed the soil quicker. But it didn't work past that because it held the heat too much and didn't allow water to come in. I love the string over these. It allows you to just push or pull the fabric up or down to exactly where you want it.
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That is pretty neat. The string will also keep the shade cloth from blowing away!
I will have to file that away for future ideas for my garden.

If you do that with plastic, make sure you can open the ends. That way you can let the heat out.

I agree about the hail, you just never know when or where it will hit.
 
You are right of course and I thought I'd made that clear. I'm sorry if you misunderstood.


That is pretty neat. The string will also keep the shade cloth from blowing away!
I will have to file that away for future ideas for my garden.

If you do that with plastic, make sure you can open the ends. That way you can let the heat out.

I agree about the hail, you just never know when or where it will hit.

The problem with this system is that the ends have to stay securely tied or the whole thing falls apart. You can open the sides very easily to let the heat out though. Problem was if I wasn't home and the day got a lot hotter than the weather man predicted.
 
Hail can decimate an entire garden in a matter of minutes. We get hail the most here during spring and early summer. Year before last I had a huge garden, went out for the evening, didn't get a drop of rain on me, but came home to a decimated garden and a dead chicken! The poor chick didn't have a chance to run for cover. Everyone else in the coop was soaking wet so you know it came strong and fast. The corrugated plastic above their run had baseball size holes in it!


I found a couple brands of hail netting that protects crops yet allows light and water in. Talking with DH to figure out what we want to do, a permanent system, or something that can go up and down easily. Problem is, someone isn't home 24/7 so something permanent (at least during hail season) would be nice.
I'm leaning toward something like this with hail netting instead of shade cloth. I did this last year with plastic sheeting and it worked great as a row cover to extend the season, it protected my starts from a late snow, kept transplants from being sunburnt, and warmed the soil quicker. But it didn't work past that because it held the heat too much and didn't allow water to come in. I love the string over these. It allows you to just push or pull the fabric up or down to exactly where you want it.
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Very nice.
 
Very very true.



I am pro-barter as well its just that right now I have nothing to trade other than my own labor. Our end plan is to have solar power and a well set up by the end of 2016. Our garden should be up and running with all the kinks out of it by then and I hope that we've gotten some sheep to add to our little menagerie. I'd like to be 100% off the grid and perhaps 75% self sufficient. We'll always need something that we can't produce ourselves (I.E. lumber, nails, fencing, etc..) so we'll still have to head into town once in a while to pick things up.


Yeah being out of debt would be amazing but it's not happening for the next 15 years at a minimum for us.

RichnSteph

Now you'd be surprised what you have to barter with. You might consider stocking things you get for free with the end result being to barter them to those who need them. I've bartered chick/chickens for horse manure. Although I'd take rabbit, goat, or sheep. Anything that I can compost.

I don't have a truck so transportation of things I can't lug home helps too. Cattle panels won't fit in my van.

You'll want to snag all the pallets you can.
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I save things up until I get enough to use. That's why I sit in the bookstore looking at magazines I can't afford. I get lots of ideas.

Got a few canning jars for chickens too.

I'd like to build a garden kitchen for canning and stuff. The steam in canning can be quite intense. I hope to get one of these babies sometime. Since I'd only use it in the fall it would be good to have.

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@rancher hicks my husband bought one with 3 burners a couple of years ago to take camping. We love it! our Christmas present this year is a pizza oven that sits on top of it. Best pizza we have ever made. Gonna be great cooking pizza in campgrounds this summer! :)

I will be using it for canning next summer. our new house has central air, so canning indoors probably isn't going to happen. Unless he build me my canning kitchen in the basement with venting.
 
@rancher hicks my husband bought one with 3 burners a couple of years ago to take camping. We love it! our Christmas present this year is a pizza oven that sits on top of it. Best pizza we have ever made. Gonna be great cooking pizza in campgrounds this summer! :)

I will be using it for canning next summer. our new house has central air, so canning indoors probably isn't going to happen. Unless he build me my canning kitchen in the basement with venting.
I just did applesauce and the humidity was not good. So I figure a set up outdoors for canning would be better. Though would a pressure cooker better than water bath?

Another thing I thought it would be good for is processing chickens/
 
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A pressure cooker does give off less steam, but it still does give off some moisture and heat up the kitchen.
When I do a lot of pressure canning, the fan above my stove would turn itself on. But it is a microwave/fan system and that is an automatic function when the appliance gets too hot. Told DH that l will never, ever have a microwave over the stove ever again.
 
Hello! I just wanted to introduce myself as a work-in-progress semi-homesteader / prepper living in the desert southwest. I started reading this thread from the very beginning, but finally jumped to page 115 after reading the first 25 pages, so please forgive me if I ask questions about things already discussed long ago.

Anyway, we live on 5 acres of land previously used as a rock quarry, so the soil is more rock than dirt, and the dirt isn't suitable for growing much of anything other than the hardiest of native desert plants...especially nutgrass, which I detest. I've spent the past couple of years reading, researching and experimenting with methods to make our home more self-sustaining and I'm finally beginning to make some progress by focusing my efforts almost exclusively of my approximately 1/3 - 1/2 acre back yard. I started last year by trying to turn my brown thumb green by planting in both raised beds in the form of watering troughs, and straw bales, which worked surprisingly well. I discovered, however, that I MUST invest in some sort of greenhouse covering to protect my garden from the scorching summer heat, as much of my hard work turned brown and died this past summer. Like I said....work-in-progress. Right now I'm growing cover crops of beets, carrots, three kinds of kale, cabbage, spinach, swiss chard and clover in my raised beds. I'm starting my indoor seedlings now and preparing to acquire more straw bales to season for my winter/spring harvest while I work on a greenhouse design.

This year I've added chickens to the mix, and plan to use them not only for eggs and meat, but also to help me nourish the soil and return it to a bioactive state conducive to planting. Last years straw bales are now being composted by the chickens, and I hope that in the next couple years I may be able to grow fruit shrubs and maybe even some fruit trees...none of which have been able to survive my soil and sun so far. Many of my garden clippings are currently going to my chickens to help supplement their diet. And while I don't know of any other homesteaders in my area, everyone I've told about my chickens has already begun offering to buy eggs from me. (They all know I'm a food snob, and my chickens are 100% organic, no soy, no corn, no canola.)

I have ten chickens right now, my first flock, comprised of 4 Australorps (all pullets), 3 Barred Rocks (2 pullets and one cockerel) and 3 Silkies (2 cockerels and 1 pullet). These are my eggs layers an pets, not meat birds, and even though my BRs are hatchery stock, I plan to breed them this next year to aid me in understanding a bit more of the genetic material I've studied in my poultry husbandry reading. I'll also be acquiring some meat birds in the very near future, as my hubby allowed me to purchase an incubator as my Xmas present, and I'll be ordering hatching eggs in the coming days. Right now I'm favoring the Naked Neck Turken for meat, as it's a very hardy bird that typically acclimates well to this desert environment. I'm very excited about hatching them! And I look forward to being able to breed them and have some broody hens to take over the incubation process.

I should also add that I'm a total nerd. I read and study almost obsessively, preferring actual books to digital...which may help explain why my intro is so long and wordy.
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Hello! I just wanted to introduce myself as a work-in-progress semi-homesteader / prepper living in the desert southwest. I started reading this thread from the very beginning, but finally jumped to page 115 after reading the first 25 pages, so please forgive me if I ask questions about things already discussed long ago.

Anyway, we live on 5 acres of land previously used as a rock quarry, so the soil is more rock than dirt, and the dirt isn't suitable for growing much of anything other than the hardiest of native desert plants...especially nutgrass, which I detest. I've spent the past couple of years reading, researching and experimenting with methods to make our home more self-sustaining and I'm finally beginning to make some progress by focusing my efforts almost exclusively of my approximately 1/3 - 1/2 acre back yard. I started last year by trying to turn my brown thumb green by planting in both raised beds in the form of watering troughs, and straw bales, which worked surprisingly well. I discovered, however, that I MUST invest in some sort of greenhouse covering to protect my garden from the scorching summer heat, as much of my hard work turned brown and died this past summer. Like I said....work-in-progress. Right now I'm growing cover crops of beets, carrots, three kinds of kale, cabbage, spinach, swiss chard and clover in my raised beds. I'm starting my indoor seedlings now and preparing to acquire more straw bales to season for my winter/spring harvest while I work on a greenhouse design.

This year I've added chickens to the mix, and plan to use them not only for eggs and meat, but also to help me nourish the soil and return it to a bioactive state conducive to planting. Last years straw bales are now being composted by the chickens, and I hope that in the next couple years I may be able to grow fruit shrubs and maybe even some fruit trees...none of which have been able to survive my soil and sun so far. Many of my garden clippings are currently going to my chickens to help supplement their diet. And while I don't know of any other homesteaders in my area, everyone I've told about my chickens has already begun offering to buy eggs from me. (They all know I'm a food snob, and my chickens are 100% organic, no soy, no corn, no canola.)

I have ten chickens right now, my first flock, comprised of 4 Australorps (all pullets), 3 Barred Rocks (2 pullets and one cockerel) and 3 Silkies (2 cockerels and 1 pullet). These are my eggs layers an pets, not meat birds, and even though my BRs are hatchery stock, I plan to breed them this next year to aid me in understanding a bit more of the genetic material I've studied in my poultry husbandry reading. I'll also be acquiring some meat birds in the very near future, as my hubby allowed me to purchase an incubator as my Xmas present, and I'll be ordering hatching eggs in the coming days. Right now I'm favoring the Naked Neck Turken for meat, as it's a very hardy bird that typically acclimates well to this desert environment. I'm very excited about hatching them! And I look forward to being able to breed them and have some broody hens to take over the incubation process.

I should also add that I'm a total nerd. I read and study almost obsessively, preferring actual books to digital...which may help explain why my intro is so long and wordy.
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Hello & welcome!!
It sounds like you have your work cut out for you! I'm thinking permaculture might help you with some of your land. It's not a 'quick fix' but apparently works well on a long term basis. There is a permaculture thread here if you are interested, also Mother Earth has had some very good articles on permaculture.
Certainly a greenhouse will benefit you, as will long sheets of shade cloth over the veggie beds. Drip irrigation is an excellent cost saving way to keep plants hydrated, if you have the ability (& money) to set it all up. Here in NY we don't usually worry about water too much
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!
Keep reading - it's better to be prepared than to go off 'half-cocked'! Many people 'think' they want chickens/goats/homesteading etc. then realize they actually have to work and care for everything 24/7 and it becomes too much bother. I researched my chickens for about 18 months before I actually got them - it has paid dividends for me.
Wishing you well, keep asking questions, everyone here loves to help out if they can!
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Hello & welcome!!
It sounds like you have your work cut out for you! I'm thinking permaculture might help you with some of your land. It's not a 'quick fix' but apparently works well on a long term basis. There is a permaculture thread here if you are interested, also Mother Earth has had some very good articles on permaculture.
Certainly a greenhouse will benefit you, as will long sheets of shade cloth over the veggie beds. Drip irrigation is an excellent cost saving way to keep plants hydrated, if you have the ability (& money) to set it all up. Here in NY we don't usually worry about water too much
roll.png
!
Keep reading - it's better to be prepared than to go off 'half-cocked'! Many people 'think' they want chickens/goats/homesteading etc. then realize they actually have to work and care for everything 24/7 and it becomes too much bother. I researched my chickens for about 18 months before I actually got them - it has paid dividends for me.
Wishing you well, keep asking questions, everyone here loves to help out if they can!
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Thanks for the welcome! I too have spent nearly two years researching chickens, and spent time "chicken sitting" for neighbors so I could gain first-hand experience prior to taking the plunge.
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My husband grew up having chickens, but he's been blown away by my management techniques so far. He was accustomed to rooster attacks and flighty hens, whereas my chickens are all very tame, trained to respond and come to me by name, and downright affectionate. He calls me the "chicken whisperer", which I find hilarious.

I actually use a drip irrigation system on the straw bales but haven't installed a system in my troughs yet. Water is definitely an issue out here, as are high winds. Unfortunately those winds have made the use of shade cloth impractical. I wouldn't be surprised if you find my shade cloth from last year in your yard someplace.
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Permaculture, huh? I will definitely have to look into that. Thanks!
 

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