Homesteaders

[heidisue]

Ok newbie I looked online for native desert food sources and found four things ..... Desert ironwood, mesquite, palo verde, and prickly pear. Not 100% on any of them or your zone but would any of these work as a windbreak/food source?

Yep!! We have quite a few food sources here. The Sonoran desert is actually full of life. We have trees and lots of other plants. I love our wildflower season - just beautiful.

I'm not sure what you could eat on an ironwood. I do want one though, but they grow pretty slow. I have 7-8 mesquites and I'm planning on making flour with the beans. I planted prickly pear and made jelly with the fruits and I want to try candy and lemonade. I tried nopales this year and I loved them! I don't have a palo verde yet.

 

[newbie32]

Ok newbie I looked online for native desert food sources and found four things ..... Desert ironwood, mesquite, palo verde, and prickly pear. Not 100% on any of them or your zone but would any of these work as a windbreak/food source?

Thank you for looking! I know about the mesquite. But my proximity to a large issue prevents it from growing well where I am at. I have seen some prickly pear about 20 miles from me because there is a shop that sells it. I am sending you an IM about WHY things are different surrounding my direct location.

 

[rancher hicks]

I have wanted goats for a long time, but I'm holding off. I'm afraid that if I get them and don't like the milk that it would be a waste. But I don't know anyone who has goats so I can't try any.

Isn't that silly?

I also don't really know much about goats. Guess when I get serious I'll start researching.

Now even if you don't like the milk you can make cheeses and soap. I've traded chickens for both. I can't have goats. Too there are many varieties of goats after research you might find one you like for reasons other than milk.

Seems to me a couple of goats would yield enough to get started.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I have wanted goats for a long time, but I'm holding off. I'm afraid that if I get them and don't like the milk that it would be a waste. But I don't know anyone who has goats so I can't try any.

Isn't that silly?

I also don't really know much about goats. Guess when I get serious I'll start researching.

I have tasted fresh goat milk from a local creamery here. It tastes excellent if you manage the feed properly (don't let them eat unsavory weeds) and apparently the buck should ideally be kept away from the doe. However, I will say that when we let the milk set in the refrigerator for about 5 days it starts tasting goaty. So drink it fresh and cold. Also the creamery stated that they immediately chill the milk with the use of ice as this will help it taste good.

But when we drank the milk fresh and cold, it tasted very much like cow's milk! It was almost identical. These were Nubian goats.

 

[kentuckychicks]

I'm not a goat expert.....yet! Lol but I do know butterfat content plays a huge role in taste also! So take that into account also!

 

[outlander]

I'm about 30-40 mins from Paducah but originally from Muhlenberg county.

Hi KYchicks! Just started our homesteading adventure last April when we purchased a house on 40 acres near the Muhlenberg/Logan county border...just a few minutes from Lake Malone.

Focusing on chickens at the moment, building my breeding flock. We have a lot of work to do before we can get pigs. Garden would have been fantastic this year had my back cooperated! Had everything planted and growing, then had to let it run to weeds Unfortunately my wife doesn't know grass from corn...she had taken out a whole row before I stopped her, lol!! I decided the garden had a better chance on its own - and we did get cukes, okra, carrots and dill out of it. Thankfully the wife's relatives had bumper crops and gave us their excess, which I promptly canned!!

 

[heidisue]

Oops, didn't notice you were talking to newbie, Kentucky. saw the wind break part and thought you were responding to Mara asking if I had any desert plants that would work as a wind break

 

[kentuckychicks]

Hello outlander! I will be over in Muhlenberg today my momma still lives there!

Rofl about your wife! She will get it! At least she's trying to help! Thankfully my hubby is into living off the land. He's out in a deer stand somewhere right now. He better bring back a deer my freezer is almost empty!
My advice put down massive amounts of straw lol less hoeing! I hate and I mean hate to hoe!!! I would rather pick bush beans and that's a chore lol.

We aren't brave enough for pigs yet going to goat route first but hey maybe down the road we can help each other get started with the other! Glad you decided to post and that you are so close! Unless you guys moved from out of town it's possible that I might know you guys or some of your family or the other way around!

 

[kentuckychicks]

Imok

Oops, didn't notice you were talking to newbie, Kentucky. saw the wind break part and thought you were responding to Mara asking if I had any desert plants that would work as a wind break

It's ok! It's easy to get confused on behind but I think it's awesome so many people are interested in homesteading! This is my favorite thread by far love the topic the people are awesome and I'm getting lots of great ideas! Keep em coming people!

 

[outlander]

Hello outlander! I will be over in Muhlenberg today my momma still lives there!

Rofl about your wife! She will get it! At least she's trying to help! Thankfully my hubby is into living off the land. He's out in a deer stand somewhere right now. He better bring back a deer my freezer is almost empty!
My advice put down massive amounts of straw lol less hoeing! I hate and I mean hate to hoe!!! I would rather pick bush beans and that's a chore lol.

We aren't brave enough for pigs yet going to goat route first but hey maybe down the road we can help each other get started with the other! Glad you decided to post and that you are so close! Unless you guys moved from out of town it's possible that I might know you guys or some of your family or the other way around!

I hope he gets a deer!! We'll go out in our blind this afternoon, we typically spot them right around twilight. We're like y'all though, freezer meat first - no trophy necessary...but I wouldn't pass up a nice buck

The previous owners left a couple piles of tires behind, and I plan on using them for raised beds - hoping that will be easier on the back. I'd like to set them up so the lawnmower will fit between them for easy maintenance.