Homesteaders

[trsturself]

Moonshaddows, that is pretty darn awesome! We have 60 acres and would LOVE to do something similar! I like the idea of a back yard pond. Fish should be pretty self sufficient in a pond I think. Growing up one of my neighbors had a pond, and fish just showed up. They did not put fish in it. I'm not sure what kind of fish they were, but we had fun catching them and throwing them back in the water Do you have any other details about your brothers pond? How deep, how wide, and how did he dig it? Did he hire out, or maybe use a backhoe? Our climate is similar to upstate NY, maybe a little cooler, but not much. NY has cold winters and warm summers like I do.
Trsturself, while my family and I enjoy the flavor of tilapia, our climate simply could not sustain them. I believe 50 degrees or lower is fatal for them. My current outdoor temp now is -4. Which would require lots and lots of wood to keep those fish warm... I appreciate your input though! We have read about aquaponics, and thing its a self sufficient dream! We are working bit by bit at self sufficiency. We have quite a way to go though.
Thanks much for the replies!

Usually an aquaponics system is in a greenhouse type structure so it stays warm and humid in there. People do it here in CO and it gets down in the negatives too (it was -16 just a few days ago).

 

[RTFchickens]

Any ideas how they heat it to keep it warm in the winter months? Our house gets below freezing if we don't keep the fire burning. We have been thinking of a rocket stove in a greenhouse setting to keep fish and plants warm and thriving. I do LOVE tillapia, but I'm not sure how to keep them warm enough...

 

[trsturself]

Any ideas how they heat it to keep it warm in the winter months? Our house gets below freezing if we don't keep the fire burning. We have been thinking of a rocket stove in a greenhouse setting to keep fish and plants warm and thriving. I do LOVE tillapia, but I'm not sure how to keep them warm enough...

Usually it is just the sun but in colder climates a earth pit works better to keep it warm. There's a guy in UT that has videos up of his and he said it was something like 45 outside and over 80 inside. He had a problem with too much heat. You could also try some solar heaters or homemade heaters to add more heat. A quick pinterest search came up with tons of ideas.
Here are a few examples. http://www.pinterest.com/pin/256283035016916732/
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/116038127871792841/
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/466755948851911391/

 

[rancher hicks]

I just watched a CBS report on food prices going up. Consider how much garlic you use each year. 10 - 15 lbs maybe? Now do the math. Garlic is easy to grow and easy to store. If you only grew garlic, how much would you shave off your grocery bill? I just checked Wegmans. $3.99 a lb. We use a lot of garlic in this house. So that's $40 - 60 a year. That's a lot of chicken feed. Plus garlic is low or no maintenance. Plant it and forget it til harvest time.

Correct me if I'm wrong but a 4' X 4' bed with garlic planted 5" apart is 92. bulbs. If the average bulb weighs between 1 - 2 ounces that's 5 - 10 lbs just in that one bed. Approx.

92 @ 1 ounce ea. / 16 ounces + 5.75 lbs. X $3.99 = $22.94. That's at the bottom end of course. You may do better, but even if you do the lowest size your still saving for little effort.

 

[boskelli1571]

I know. It seems every month there a report on something being more expensive this year etc. It used to get blamed on the weather, but now they don't even give an excuse! It certainly pays to try and live on what is grown in your area. For example apples are way cheaper than pineapples in NY state and do you really need to buy a mealy, tasteless tomato in February? You can save a lot of money by buying local and growing your own & sharing with neighbors. Come to think of it, isn't that what they did in 'the old days'??

 

[rancher hicks]

In the "Old days" folks depended on their gardens. Now they have other things to distract them. I asked a co worker who lived in the country if they planted a garden knowing he had 6 kids and his wife didn't work. His reply shocked me in that he said "why should they go to all the trouble when he can work and buy it ?"

Well Lord have mercy, I'll tell you why, IMHO. Because instead of being at work 24/7 you can be spending quality time with your kids teaching them about farming and reap the satisfaction of doing it yourself. Not to mention pull the little buggers away from the computer and boob tube.

Also IMHO the television and computer have done more to drive a wedge between people than it has to bring them together.

BTW, Boskelli are you aware that we NYer's are having a Picnic in May. There is a thread for it. Why not come and share what you know and meet your fellow chicken neighbors ? Of course it's open to anyone who wants to come even non NYers too.

 

[boskelli1571]

You are not wrong in what you say. Computers & TVs' have their place - I just don't think it's in the home 24/7

I did not know about the picnic - I will find the thread, thanks.

 

[boskelli1571]

Does anybody here grow 'withys'? They are small brushy willows, used for containment of soil erosion, wind breaks etc. I am looking to get some, but so far the only place I've found is in Canada. If you have them and are willing to share, please pm me, thanks.

 

[rancher hicks]

Does anybody here grow 'withys'? They are small brushy willows, used for containment of soil erosion, wind breaks etc. I am looking to get some, but so far the only place I've found is in Canada. If you have them and are willing to share, please pm me, thanks.

Willows are easy to propagate by cuttings right? A fist full of cuttings should be good, I would think. I got some Jostaberry cuttings from a friend last year. Two remained out of about 11, but that might have been my fault in not getting them in the ground soon enough.

 

[boskelli1571]

Apparently so, the book says just stick them in the ground and they grow! Finding them is the problem....