Homesteaders

[OrganicFarmWife]

Yes they are very trainable. You just need to use the same thing to feed them everyday. Ours are "tractor trained" but it is the same idea, if they believe you have food, they will come to you. We herd ours a couple miles come winter time, it is very easy they follow the food. My FIL also calls them when switching pastures. He just opens the gate and calls them to him and they happily go into the fresh grass.
If I were a homestead I would not choose Angus, I realize they are easy to find but they are bred for a farm use. One of these other, smaller breeds would make much more sense for a homestead.

 

[Raech]

Our horses are the same, loud whistle(I cant do it) or click your tongue noise. The whistle works for when they are across the creek and the click works for close ranges. Going to have to figure out something for the cattle, our horses are scared of the rattle of grains. My cats come running when I click, which helped when they got loose because they pushed the screen out. Im not sure we are going to milk, probably should with how much we drink. But that would require a milking area, so more fencing to seperate, and a huge learning curve because Grandpa was the last person to milk when he was younger. More food for thought, thanks guys. Have a great evening

 

[Chicken girl 15]

I've heard the Dexters have a nasty temper, so not sure if smaller but meaner would help. The Highland cattle have those huge horns to deal with and when you sell offspring they are a hard sell to locals who are used to Angus and want nothing else. My sister has raised Highlands for some years now but she's slowly getting out of them. If I had to choose an all around great breed for a homestead I'd choose the Speckled Park breed, though they might be hard to find. They are a dual purpose beef breed, as they have HUGE udders and produce much milk, do well in cold climates, and even their hides can be sold easily after butchering, so I'm much interested in them. By all reports they are gentle and good mothers, easy to work with. They've got milking genetics in their makeup and to me they appear to be the best of both worlds....and are extremely beautiful, to boot. http://www.specklepark.ca/node/11 I've actually seen these cows and how they perform on grass and it's nothing short of amazing...they stay fat as ticks on grass and are naturally hardy stock, doing well in hot and cold climates, with huge calves that just get fatter on all that rich milk.

not to mention they are beautiful. I could look at something like that until butcher time. I know it sounds funny but I can't have livestock I don't enjoy looking at.

 

[mythreesons]

Has anyone started their own vegetable & flowers seeds yet?

I've decided to grow all my vegetables and flowers from seed instead of buying the starts and paying for something I can do myself..

The thing that has stop me from trying this years ago is I have a hard time with trying to do new things when I don' really know what I'm doing as I give up to easy when it fails..
I've finally breaking away from this mentality over the past few years.

 

[duluthralphie]

Has anyone started their own vegetable & flowers seeds yet?

I've decided to grow all my vegetables and flowers from seed instead of buying the starts and paying for something I can do myself..

The thing that has stop me from trying this years ago is I have a hard time with trying to do new things when I don' really know what I'm doing as I give up to easy when it fails..
I've finally breaking away from this mentality over the past few years.

I have no need too, We have Kloppers Greenhouse Plants here in Minnesota...

 

[KlopKlop]

Has anyone started their own vegetable & flowers seeds yet?

I've decided to grow all my vegetables and flowers from seed instead of buying the starts and paying for something I can do myself..

The thing that has stop me from trying this years ago is I have a hard time with trying to do new things when I don' really know what I'm doing as I give up to easy when it fails..
I've finally breaking away from this mentality over the past few years.

My seed starts are already booming. I took a very early start this year gambling on an early spring that may or may not come.

They have already been transplanted from the starting tray plugs to pots and cups.

What zone are you in? That will dictate what to start at what time

 

[Chicken girl 15]

I've started mine right in the garden already. I'm in NYS so it's still cold. In fact we just got 6 inches of snow yesterday. I have my greens such as kale, collards, spinach and other such yummy stuff. In the house the tomatoes just got started Sunday so they don't out grow the house before they can go out. I have my garden in raised beds so they were easy to snow proof, I just topped them with plastic pallets and mulch.

 

[MoonShadows]

Has anyone started their own vegetable & flowers seeds yet?

I've decided to grow all my vegetables and flowers from seed instead of buying the starts and paying for something I can do myself..

The thing that has stop me from trying this years ago is I have a hard time with trying to do new things when I don' really know what I'm doing as I give up to easy when it fails..
I've finally breaking away from this mentality over the past few years.

I am attempting seeds for the first time this year, too! Looks like both of us are breaking with past practices. I bought all my seeds from Seeds of Change...all organic, non GMO.

 

[mythreesons]

I live in NYS about a hour away from Albany which is zone 5.


I planted all heirloom tomatoes' & peppers around the first week of March.....way to early which I'm nervous about because I've already transplanted the tomatoes plugs into 8oz cup's and they so much bigger since the transplant which was just last week..eek!


I also planted from seed broccoli, cabbage, celery, lettuce, brussels sprouts, cayenne pepper, red and green jalapeno, 2-varieties of red bell pepper, chili pepper, oregano, sage, thyme, chives, rosemary, petunias and zinnias..

Everything is in my basement on heat matts and under grow lights.

In my greenhouse I planted beets, carrots and radish so far.


Would like to know when I transplant the tomatoes should I use the 16oz solo cups or go bigger? Thanks.

 

[KlopKlop]

I live in NYS about a hour away from Albany which is zone 5.


I planted all heirloom tomatoes' & peppers around the first week of March.....way to early which I'm nervous about because I've already transplanted the tomatoes plugs into 8oz cup's and they so much bigger since the transplant which was just last week..eek!


I also planted from seed broccoli, cabbage, celery, lettuce, brussels sprouts, cayenne pepper, red and green jalapeno, 2-varieties of red bell pepper, chili pepper, oregano, sage, thyme, chives, rosemary, petunias and zinnias..

Everything is in my basement on heat matts and under grow lights.

In my greenhouse I planted beets, carrots and radish so far.


Would like to know when I transplant the tomatoes should I use the 16oz solo cups or go bigger? Thanks.

I just transplanted from plugs straight to 16 oz cups and buried the plants right up to their bottom leafs and they are loving it!