Homesteaders

[newbie32]

This sounds amazing! I only have chickens right now but someday I want to get out of California like you did and buy property. I just posted on my Anyone Living Off The Land forum about an experiment I just did. I might have pinto beans growing soon. I don't think I will actually eat them because I can buy them for fairly cheap. I am doing it for the chickens to have-I spoil them

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I want to have dwarf milking goats. I have a book called The Backyard Homestead that describes how the dwarf goats have sweeter milk and you need a LOT LESS land. I would be happy to have 2 acres. For me and my family that's all we need-but more would be great. I was also thinking of honey bees but maple sounds lovely!!!!

When I do get my land I am digging a well(as backup) and I will probably get a windmill as well

 

[Raech]

So how is everyone's gardens going? My cucumber plants are done already, I got 5 cucumbers from two plants, one that only got watered at night for 20 minutes. And my cherry tomatoes are still doing awesome, but my larger tomatoes quit producing for a little bit, but now I have baseball sized green ones still going. At grandpa's garden the zucchini is going like crazy and just got our first banana squash, its longer than my arm, sitting on my porch table. picked the first 2 cantaloupe and muskmelons(?) today. I went out to get some carrots for a new recipe I found a bought enough to freeze the extra for another dinner, and my oldest ate 4 big ones before I got them done. I'm so excited to plant my own carrots next spring so I can put them up and have my oldest learn how to do it with me.

So I now have 9 jars of whole tomatoes, 4 small bags of diced/sliced carrots put up so far, but grandpas garden is still puking every time I turn around. any ideas on what to do with my monster banana squash? All I can think of is chunk it up and freeze it.

I got a vacuum sealer for my birthday and am loving it more and more every time I use it. It seems like every where the family and I have went the last 2 weeks we find chicken coops, and tonight we actually saw a chicken loose in someone's front yard. My son almost climbed out the window he was so excited.

 

[newbie32]

Ive been debating on a pecan tree. Trying to decide if it is worth planting on a rental property

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Ive been debating on a pecan tree. Trying to decide if it is worth planting on a rental property

You should have planted it yesterday!

Plant away! You never know how long you'll be in a place. I am still kicking myself for waiting to plant our fruit trees. Still waiting for our fruit harvest to get large enough to count.

They do grow slowly...but then it will bless someone for sure one day.

 

[newbie32]

true but they are NOT cheap! I will give it more thought before I take the plunge. It would be lovely to have shade in the backyard though

what kind of fruit trees do you have?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

true but they are NOT cheap! I will give it more thought before I take the plunge. It would be lovely to have shade in the backyard though

what kind of fruit trees do you have?

Get the seedlings on Ebay or some place like that...very cheap that way. Arbor day foundation may have it cheap?

I have apple, pear, and cherry. Oh and one mulberry.

 

[newbie32]

Get the seedlings on Ebay or some place like that...very cheap that way. Arbor day foundation may have it cheap?

I have apple, pear, and cherry. Oh and one mulberry.

Good idea about doing seeds instead of a started tree! That way i dont worry about the cost

Oh I love ALL of those fruits!!!! I know they need to be cross pollinated but I don't get the concept. I have googled and found no charts as to what trees need to be cross pollinated with what?????
And while we are on the topic of me not finding an answer-I keep reading that plants need to be rotated. I see charts saying what they can be rotated with but I don't get it. Do I plant them close to each other or do I plant one kind one year and another kind another year? I only want a few veggies to grow so why do they need to be rotated?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Quote:
I wouldn't buy seeds...buy seedlings (tiny trees) instead- saves a LOT of time waiting. Or bare root trees when they go on sale in the very very early spring.

For cross pollination, look up each type of tree on google...there are some pages where they say if it needs to be cross pollinated with another variety.

Plant rotation is where you plant another plant the next year. So you move your tomatoes to another section of the garden. I don't worry about it myself. But you do need to add your composted chicken poo (one year old poo) to enrich the soil.

 

[newbie32]

Yes I have found the charts that break down which ones (most) that need to be cross pollinated. But they don't say with which varieties. Does it matter which ones they are cross pollinated with?
Where do you keep your chicken poo for a year and are you worried about salmonella from the poo? It would be easier for me to keep them planted where they were the year before. I am a weird creature of habit

 

[wyoDreamer]

You should rotate your plants every couple of years at the least. There are a couple of reasons that this is suggested.
1.) If you plant the same thing every year in the same place, eventually the soil will become deficient in the nutrients that that specific plant uses and needs to perform best. For example, tomatoes use more potasium and less phosphorous; while a cucumber needs more phosphorous and less potasium for a good crop. By rotating the crops every couple of yeasr, you can keep the nutrient levels form building up too high or getting too low.

more importantly though:

2.) By planting a different plant in a spot, you will break the disease/pest cycle for that soil. If you plant tomatoes every year in the same spot, you will have a build up of the virus/bacterium in the soil that cause tomato diseases. And the pests lay eggs in the soil, so in the spring, right off the get-go, you will have insect pests eating your seedlings. If you plant carrots in that spot the next year, then the tomato diseases don't have a host to live on and will die off. Planting the same plant year-after year-after year the diseases and pests will really build up in the soil until the plants cannot survive without massive doses of chemicals to treat those problems.