Homesteaders

[CapricornFarm]

I would think sorghum would grow, saw a lot of that in TN. I am going to see what is available in the local feed stores. I think the main draw back will be trying to grow in the shady areas i have.

 

[rancher hicks]

Hi, New to the thread. Had a farm in TN but had to move to FL to help aged parents. Now bought a log home with 12+ acres on the Pigg River in VA. Most of the land is heavily treed. We are working on fencing the land for goats. DH has an area almost done to keep chickens and rabbits safe at night since we have seen bears in our driveway. My guineas are shipping on the 11th, we had a real tick problem with all this brush and the deer are thick. As well as rabbits and quail, plus turkey. We had to have heavy equipment in to make way for a double garage as there is little in the way of storage here. I am planning on putting some fruit and nut trees in that area. We cleared a brushy area near the house for a garden, i have been trying to amend the soil but it is hard work for an old gal. I am looking for ideas on what i can plant along the driveways that will grow in shade but also help feed my livestock as there are no pastures. We love it here, the city has never been our favorite place to be.

I suggest starting with pigs first. If you can fence them in they will clear the land pretty good and much better than goats. Read an article once on using hogs to clear the land. They'll destroy anything but the biggest trees.

It was most likely in GRIT magazine since it's one I peruse at the book store. There are videos of course.

 

[CapricornFarm]

I do not want to clear the land, i just want to get rid of some wild rose bushes, poison ivy, virginia creeper etc. We had pigs in TN, the guinea hogs were good because they didn't get too big. Got them to help seal the floor of the pond. We planned to slaughter them but ended up selling the three sows we had to a guy that wanted to breed them. Plus it is hard to milk a pig. And i really enjoy goats. But i would consider pigs at some point. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[rancher hicks]

I hear you on the wild roses. I've got those too. Plus I'm working on ridding this property of Buckthorns. Not an easy task at my age.

 

[CapricornFarm]

I understand buckthorns are an invasive weed. I don't think i have seen them.

 

[rancher hicks]

I understand buckthorns are an invasive weed. I don't think i have seen them.

Buckthorns are a tree here. They produce black inedible berries. I don't think the birds eat them. They have thorns on the branches and all along the trunk of the tree. Very painful I had to have one cut out of my finger. I just cut the tree and lay the whole thing over the burn pile. I don't try to cut them smaller anymore.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Buckthorns are a tree here. They produce black inedible berries. I don't think the birds eat them. They have thorns on the branches and all along the trunk of the tree. Very painful I had to have one cut out of my finger. I just cut the tree and lay the whole thing over the burn pile. I don't try to cut them smaller anymore.

Probably a good policy. We had bougainvillia in Florida, that stuff had such bad thorns they could go right through your sneaker! The blooms are pretty, though.

 

[rancher hicks]

So I found a thing on the internet called the "buckthorn blaster" What it is a thing that has a sponge on the end to paint the stumps of trees you cut down. It looks like you fill it with colored "round up" and paint the ends or stumps. I will order one and see how that goes. If it works that would be great.

In the past i cut the trees off and wrapped the end with cardboard and filled it with salt. That seemed to work. It wasn't easy to get the cardboard to stay.

I'll keep up the fight against these nasty useless things. I expect the "blaster thing would work for the ends of vines too. I've seen a gizmo by "Round Up
that is a goopy type thing but I didn't look at it real well.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

We're pretty lucky I guess. Our invasive, thorny plants are black raspberries. They grow wild here and try to take over every inch if you let them. What wonderful plants to have as weeds!

 

[Treerooted]

Anyone homesteading with a toddler? I don't get any of our projects done it seems, we've been here almost a year and I'm not sure I have much to show for it!