Homesteaders

[combatfuzzball]

Well we just moved back in September to a new place. It's only a pinch over a half acre but it's all ours! LOL as long as we can pay the bank for it that is. I have 14 chickens headed onto 4 months and still haven't got the main Coop done. I just don't see how some of the old timers did all that they did. Have a 5 month old baby and it seems like she devours time. Worth it but it's kind of a bummer to move out where I can garden and raise animals and have no time for a garden. Chickens are doing great free ranging since there is no one behind my house for miles.

 

[CLSranch]

Congrats on the new place no matter the size. It's nice to free range even if it's not all on your place, they're not going to hurt anything. Maybe help. And the less neighbors the better I say.

 

[rancher hicks]

Well now a new baby can be fun too. Used to be mom's strapped them on and worked with them on their backs etc. etc.
Keep it simple and you'll survive.
One, a hoop coop is quick enough, if you do deep litter flooring. Just be sure to make sure nothing can did underneath. Too plant pricker bearing fruits along the sides. Let them grow through your' hardware cloth to a couple of feet. Gooseberry, raspberry and the like. canes grow well in compost.
Two raised beds are in. Used material for the sides is easy, if you can scour CL for free material to use. Collect cardboard at the grocers.

Just do a little each day. Planning what you'd like to do helps, with your feeling of accomplishment. My beds were done as I acquired materials. Small beds can work well too. Also plant in your yard, along the house.

 

[rancher hicks]

 

[rancher hicks]

I used logs I cut to make this bed for my raspberries but it could work for vegetables too. I've seen free cinder blocks on CL but didn't get them as I don't own a truck. They work well too. 2x2 or 2x3,4 like that make good beds for square foot gardening. Plan your time in one hour increments. For one hour spend it on your garden, etc. etc.

 

[rancher hicks]

Found 12 tomato plants near my Egg plants next to my garage. I did not buy them and have no idea who left them there. I planted them just the same. 6 Beef steak and 6 Supersonic. I wouldn't have bought them but for free I stuck them in the garden. Tonight I will pray over them to give me a big yield.


I did have to pull Garlic that was there from last year. Small bunches. Should I dry them or replant them and leave them? They have small bulbs.

I have a bed of garlic that WAS planted geting ready to be pulled. Does the size of the stalk tell how big bulb is? How do you keep your garlic? Just dry as bulbs or do you have some other method of storage. I'll be hanging and old crib mattress frame from the garage ceiling for drying things.

 

[Molpet]

anybody even seen a wild ground hog with such bad teeth.. she looks like a saber tooth
she was in good shape other wise, but I think she would have had a lot of problems later... she looked fairly young.. never had nursed and limber enough to climb a skinny tree
I gave her to a taxidermist buddy.. I text him the pic and he was here in an hour to get her... i call him whenever I get a "well that's something you don't see every day" .. had a blonde ground hog a couple of years ago

 

[MartinsPoultry]

My fiance and I are homestead wannabees, we started out with just a few birds, 7 turkeys, 4 chickens and 4 guineas. Now we are booming with wildlife. 4 Adult turkey hens, we sold the toms, 4 Turkey poults, 7 adult Guinea fowl, 6 keets, 29 assorted ducks including Muscovy, Rouen, Ancona, Khaki's, Indian Runner, and Cayuga, Assorted chickens, 7 adults, 25 sub adults, 17 chickens peeps that are feathering out, 4 week old bantam chicks, and bunnies. We have a small garden this year as we filled up my old one with brush over the winter to burn, my front yard is slowling becoming a small orchard, and I plan on planting assorted nut trees on the hill in my pasture this fall to lessen the mowing for my inlaw and weed eating for us all. We are hoping next year to get a few feeder hogs and dairy goats so that I can make butter, cheese and other things.

 

[CLSranch]

My fiance and I are homestead wannabees, we started out with just a few birds, 7 turkeys, 4 chickens and 4 guineas. Now we are booming with wildlife. 4 Adult turkey hens, we sold the toms, 4 Turkey poults, 7 adult Guinea fowl, 6 keets, 29 assorted ducks including Muscovy, Rouen, Ancona, Khaki's, Indian Runner, and Cayuga, Assorted chickens, 7 adults, 25 sub adults, 17 chickens peeps that are feathering out, 4 week old bantam chicks, and bunnies. We have a small garden this year as we filled up my old one with brush over the winter to burn, my front yard is slowling becoming a small orchard, and I plan on planting assorted nut trees on the hill in my pasture this fall to lessen the mowing for my inlaw and weed eating for us all. We are hoping next year to get a few feeder hogs and dairy goats so that I can make butter, cheese and other things.

You seem to be well on your homesteading way. Much more and 1 of you will have to be home to take care of it.
Remember goats are nice, reproduce well, eat weeds, sell for a decent price, AND are a pain in the but that will not stay in most fence's with hot wire as an extra. A headache that i'm going to sell until I get more land or a new fence besides the cattle panels that hold a couple just to keep the others close.

 

[MartinsPoultry]

We usealy have one who keeps watch at home and thats my inlaw when we have to shop or an emergency, he doesnt mind he has come to love the animals.