Homesteaders

[OrganicFarmWife]

DD wants us to come for Christmas next year, as if at our age we know if we'll be alive. DW and her health though she tells the doc she feels fine, getting her to go to church isn't easy. Where we go church is four times a week. Though we don't go four times a week. 

Anyhow I'm still looking at seed catalogues and feeding the chickens and collecting eggs. I guess if we were making some money. Being retired isn't all it's cracked up to be. No one want to hire part timers at our age. 

In other news, Readers Digest story.  

Mom to riding instructor,  "do you have an smaller horses, these seem big for my daughter? "

Instructor:  Our horses are very gentle. 

Mom:  How about that one over there, it looks to be the right size. 

Instructor: That's a goat!  

If I didn't know people I would not believe it. 

Speaking for the younger Generation, if you have enough hope in the future to look at seed catalogues in the winter, you should have enough hope in the future to plan next years Christmas.
I love readers digest. Especially the jokes. The best magazines make you tear up with one story and then belly roll laugh on the next.

 

[Chicken girl 15]

Speaking for the younger Generation, if you have enough hope in the future to look at seed catalogues in the winter, you should have enough hope in the future to plan next years Christmas.
I love readers digest. Especially the jokes. The best magazines make you tear up with one story and then belly roll laugh on the next.

I'm not sure if I fall into the "younger generation " catagory to you but I'm always a season ahead on my plans. From thanksgiving until the first of the year it's all Christmas stories and movies and gifts. Then after the first comes garden, animal and building plans. Then once everything is planted starts the April through December Christmas shopping. I don't know if tomorrow is promised but I plan like it is

 

[KlopKlop]

All this garden talk plus the unseasonably warm weather has my urges to start plants very strong haha
Plus all the book talk encouraged me to browse my Mike Oehler books and dream about greenhouses again. Spent some time watching Walipini YouTube videos too

 

[boskelli1571]

All this garden talk plus the unseasonably warm weather has my urges to start plants very strong haha
Plus all the book talk encouraged me to browse my Mike Oehler books and dream about greenhouses again. Spent some time watching Walipini YouTube videos too

I hear you - we have been catching up on the stuff we didn't get around to last season.

 

[rancher hicks]

Someone mentioned grow taters in a tower but only found taters in the bottom. So can anyone offer advice on which variety of taters will do well in the tower growing situation, or why this grower only found taters in the bottom?

I have the Maine potato catalog. It has lots of varieties and I need to know which are best for the tower growing system.

Has anyone here weighed their harvest from one tower? What variety did you grow and which turned out the best?


Who here grows beans for drying? What type and how did you dry and store them?

Thanks for your advice.

 

[Tumbling K]

Someone mentioned grow taters in a tower but only found taters in the bottom. So can anyone offer advice on which variety of taters will do well in the tower growing situation, or why this grower only found taters in the bottom?

I have the Maine potato catalog. It has lots of varieties and I need to know which are best for the tower growing system.

Has anyone here weighed their harvest from one tower? What variety did you grow and which turned out the best?


Who here grows beans for drying? What type and how did you dry and store them?

Thanks for your advice.

I think it's important when you start adding dirt, and making the tower. too late, and the roots will set and that is where the taters will be.

I'm not an expert, and have never done it, but that would be my guess from all the reading I've done on it, and the fact I've stayed at a Holiday Inn Express before.

 

[KlopKlop]

N

I think it's important when you start adding dirt, and making the tower.  too late, and the roots will set and that is where the taters will be.

I'm not an expert, and have never done it, but that would be my guess from all the reading I've done on it, and the fact I've stayed at a Holiday Inn Express before.

Nope the type of tater definitely maters too! I was the one who told you that rancher. I would have to go google to see, but I can tell you that Yukon golds and red potatoes doesn't work.

You definitely need to keep after the dirt layers though, you are right about that. Don't mean to flat out tell you that you are wrong

 

[henless]

Anyone here gardening with the Back to Eden method on their homestead? Trying it here for the first time and can't wait until spring to give it a good go.

I've watched the video and found it very interesting. I do raised beds, so I don't know if it would work right using a raised bed. I would like to do this in my orchard. I'm still looking into it and trying to make sure I understand how/what to do.

How far have you gotten with it? Have you posted anywhere about your garden? I would love to see/read what you've done.

 

[Beekissed]

I've watched the video and found it very interesting. I do raised beds, so I don't know if it would work right using a raised bed. I would like to do this in my orchard. I'm still looking into it and trying to make sure I understand how/what to do.

How far have you gotten with it? Have you posted anywhere about your garden? I would love to see/read what you've done.

I've posted a good bit on it in the "What are you doing in the garden?" thread and have a thread about it over on the sister site, TheEasygarden.com, with pics and such http://www.theeasygarden.com/threads/back-to-eden-gardening.16555/page-44#post-242972. I found out about it in the middle of winter last year, so didn't get the chance to start the process in the previous fall like they recommend, so started it in the spring instead, knowing full well I'd experience problems when planting into fresh wood chip...and I did, but not as much as some have done.

This coming spring will make it a full year that the chips have been on the garden, so I'll have much more return for the work done to establish it. One thing I've found out, one doesn't have to place paper down under the chips to kill the grasses and weeds there....the chips will do that all the same, so that's a step you can skip. Found that out when I had piles of wood chips next to the garden and orchard, awaiting being distributed in those places....underneath the piles was bare earth where all the grass had died from lack of sunlight, so no need to spread paper down first to achieve that.

If you hit YouTube after you watch the BTE vid you'll find all kinds of follow up vids about his garden where he talks about how it goes along over the years and those were even more amazing than the initial film. Then you'll also find many people out there trying it for themselves, but not many of them have good follow up vids on what it was like the second or third year after starting it.

From what I've seen on YT, plenty of folks are using it in raised beds and experiencing a lot of the same benefits as doing it on flat gardens.

Been trying to document my progress on the BTE forum, but don't always remember to post updates there..... http://www.backtoedenfilm.com/discu...50613/my-bte-garden-experiment-in-wv-4829472/

This coming spring will be the true test of the method, as the chips have had time to compost a good bit and should be a more balanced planting medium. I added leaves to the garden this winter, so not sure how that will change results, if at all. I'm definitely never going back to the old way of gardening...I'm loving this so very much. A good half of the work of gardening is taken out and my soil is constantly being amended by this huge composting layer of material that is sending a nutritious tea into my soil at all times, not to mention how well it suppresses weeds and the ease of pulling out weeds that try to establish anyway.

Can't say enough good things about this method and wish I had found out about it 40 yrs ago.

 

[henless]

@Beekissed ~ Thanks! Now I've got some reading to do.