Homesteaders

[Elyrian1]

Does my eighth of an acre count? I sure hope so... didn't get to start my garden this year due to moving in the middle of optimum planting time (insert evil, greedy landlord rant here...) so I'm planning on getting everything set up to do a garden this coming spring since we are now homeowners, yay! The list:

Prep beehive and possibly preorder bees to get a beehive going. I am allowed one in city limits. May do that this spring or next, still counting my dollars out. Also, I'm frankly terrified of all flying, stinging insects so there's a bit of a phobia to overcome.

Prep veggie garden space in the side yard.

Prep space to plant berry bushes and possibly concord grapes. Would love to make my own jams, jellies, and preserves...

Prep raised beds or in ground beds (haven't made up my mind) to grow native Colorado wildflowers for the bees. I'll do this regardless of whether I get bees this spring or next. I've only lived here four years and don't have a working understanding of the native flowers and plants like I did in Georgia. This will also draw pollinators to my garden, also support the local ecology since so many people believe in rock gardens around here the pollinators are struggling.

Figure out if I can grow and propagate duckweed in my garage overwinter as chicken and duck feed. My husband just loves these science projects, haha! Especially when I have to battle him for every scrap of usable space in there. It's a well insulated space, so I'm considering heating it... we'll see. There's also the crawl space, need to check the temperatures down there.

House stuff... skim coating walls to fix the ugly texture from the sixties, fixing up electrical issues (we brought in an electrician to fix the worst of it, don't ask... it was horrifying) redoing the flooring in the whole house because I have six rooms and five different kinds of laminate, peel and stick tile, real tile, and a room with only subfloor, paint, need a new toilet installed, pretty much the whole kitchen and all that that entails, install five more security cameras (not the best neighborhood or neighbors, I'm looking at you druggies), reorganize garage, fix the gutters so they don't erode the foundation anymore, and get the greenhouse set up. Got projects? They won't all get done over the winter. Urgent ones first, like the gutters and the toilet. The rest are not pressing problems.

 

[wyoDreamer]

@Elyrian1 check out the publications that are available from the Colorado University Extension for native plants and gardening help. some of the Extension agents are very helpful.
http://extension.colostate.edu/publications-2/
Colorado is going to be a huge learning curve for gardening and growing things fi you are used to Georgia.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Does my eighth of an acre count? I sure hope so... didn't get to start my garden this year due to moving in the middle of optimum planting time (insert evil, greedy landlord rant here...) so I'm planning on getting everything set up to do a garden this coming spring since we are now homeowners, yay! The list:

Prep beehive and possibly preorder bees to get a beehive going. I am allowed one in city limits. May do that this spring or next, still counting my dollars out. Also, I'm frankly terrified of all flying, stinging insects so there's a bit of a phobia to overcome.

Prep veggie garden space in the side yard.

Prep space to plant berry bushes and possibly concord grapes. Would love to make my own jams, jellies, and preserves...

Prep raised beds or in ground beds (haven't made up my mind) to grow native Colorado wildflowers for the bees. I'll do this regardless of whether I get bees this spring or next. I've only lived here four years and don't have a working understanding of the native flowers and plants like I did in Georgia. This will also draw pollinators to my garden, also support the local ecology since so many people believe in rock gardens around here the pollinators are struggling.

Figure out if I can grow and propagate duckweed in my garage overwinter as chicken and duck feed. My husband just loves these science projects, haha! Especially when I have to battle him for every scrap of usable space in there. It's a well insulated space, so I'm considering heating it... we'll see. There's also the crawl space, need to check the temperatures down there.

House stuff... skim coating walls to fix the ugly texture from the sixties, fixing up electrical issues (we brought in an electrician to fix the worst of it, don't ask... it was horrifying) redoing the flooring in the whole house because I have six rooms and five different kinds of laminate, peel and stick tile, real tile, and a room with only subfloor, paint, need a new toilet installed, pretty much the whole kitchen and all that that entails, install five more security cameras (not the best neighborhood or neighbors, I'm looking at you druggies), reorganize garage, fix the gutters so they don't erode the foundation anymore, and get the greenhouse set up. Got projects? They won't all get done over the winter. Urgent ones first, like the gutters and the toilet. The rest are not pressing problems.

Sounds like our situation. We moved from suburbs in Florida to back woods in Virginia. Bought a log cabin on 13 acres at the end of a dirt road which is off a dirt road. The house was used as a vacation place about one week a year. No bath tub, no dishwasher, no washer or dryer, no plumbing to discharge water from the washing machine we got. Hardly any electrical outlets in the great room. No fans in the bathroom. Mold in the crawl space, bees in the eaves. We had a circular driveway put in, and a big pad for 2 sheds because there was no garage only a small shed. So now i have a workshop and mini garage for the Mule. I have been planning a butterfly garden as there are lots of them here. Scored some milkweed pods the other day.
Soil is clay so raised beds and lots of amendments. Compost bin started. Chicken coop built. Goat shed next. Enlarging the deck to go on three sides of the house. Who said retirement was easy? Still putting siding on my coop.

 

[lazy gardener]

Does my eighth of an acre count? I sure hope so... didn't get to start my garden this year due to moving in the middle of optimum planting time (insert evil, greedy landlord rant here...) so I'm planning on getting everything set up to do a garden this coming spring since we are now homeowners, yay! The list:

Prep beehive and possibly preorder bees to get a beehive going. I am allowed one in city limits. May do that this spring or next, still counting my dollars out. Also, I'm frankly terrified of all flying, stinging insects so there's a bit of a phobia to overcome.

Prep veggie garden space in the side yard.

Prep space to plant berry bushes and possibly concord grapes. Would love to make my own jams, jellies, and preserves...

Prep raised beds or in ground beds (haven't made up my mind) to grow native Colorado wildflowers for the bees. I'll do this regardless of whether I get bees this spring or next. I've only lived here four years and don't have a working understanding of the native flowers and plants like I did in Georgia. This will also draw pollinators to my garden, also support the local ecology since so many people believe in rock gardens around here the pollinators are struggling.

Figure out if I can grow and propagate duckweed in my garage overwinter as chicken and duck feed. My husband just loves these science projects, haha! Especially when I have to battle him for every scrap of usable space in there. It's a well insulated space, so I'm considering heating it... we'll see. There's also the crawl space, need to check the temperatures down there.

House stuff... skim coating walls to fix the ugly texture from the sixties, fixing up electrical issues (we brought in an electrician to fix the worst of it, don't ask... it was horrifying) redoing the flooring in the whole house because I have six rooms and five different kinds of laminate, peel and stick tile, real tile, and a room with only subfloor, paint, need a new toilet installed, pretty much the whole kitchen and all that that entails, install five more security cameras (not the best neighborhood or neighbors, I'm looking at you druggies), reorganize garage, fix the gutters so they don't erode the foundation anymore, and get the greenhouse set up. Got projects? They won't all get done over the winter. Urgent ones first, like the gutters and the toilet. The rest are not pressing problems.

Welcome to this thread! And congrats on becoming a new old home owner. You'll be on first name basis with the folks at Lowe's and Home Desperate. Just think, you get to fix every room in your home RIGHT, and decorate it the way you want! I hope you have all the necessary power tools. I love a good project, even if my energy and complaining joints make the job take far longer than it used to. I hope you will infuse this thread with lots of pics including both your inside and outdoor projects as you go along. The duck weed project sounds interesting. That stuff grows like weeds... oh wait... it is a weed! High protein! Have you considered aquaponics? I'd not attempt that in the house b/c of the inherent moisture it would cause. But, perhaps your garage? With 1/8 acre, you're going to have to make every sq. inch count. That's where the planning really comes in. But, it will force the hard decisions that the rest of us avoid. Seriously, how many zucchini plants do I really need? I plant too much, then fail to keep up with it. In the end, I end up harvesting less from multiple plants than I would harvest from a single plant that was planted so it could be readily accessible. Also, consider that trellising will be your best friend. Even zucchini can be trellised. My favorite trellising materials: old swing sets and cattle panels. You might get a good head start on your garden beds simply by putting hay bales where you want those beds to be. Let them break down over the winter, plant in them in the spring. By the end of next summer, they will have composted into some fantastic mulch, your beds will be loaded with worms. You can simply fork the hay into the loose and friable soil beneath, or add more mulch and be ready for the next season.

 

[wyoDreamer]

If the soil where you are is anything like it was in Wyoming, plan on raised bed gardening. The beauty of raised beds is the ease of covering the beds for extending the seasons.
I had a 3'x7' raised bed garden (8" high) under a "growhouse" - which was simply greenhouse plastic on a wooden frame. I grew enough to have extra to share with the neighbor. I had a couple of spinach plants survive all winter; it was not planned for, but as long as it stayed green I watered it once a week. It was flat on the ground and only had about 4 leaves per plant. In March it started to grow vigorously and by the end of the month I had huge, healthy spinach plants to pick salads from. Trudging through 2'-4' snow banks to get to it, but it sure was a tasty treat.

 

[lazy gardener]

Oh how I love my CP green house. Last winter, I harvested until mid Dec. Then, started harvesting again early March. While my neighbors don't start gardening until Memorial day, and are often done around Labor Day, I garden from March - December. The off season is not really off, as I am sprouting and starting seedlings during that time.

 

[Elyrian1]

Good info all, one of the things I love about this community is the support and willingness to help each other. That sort of concern is just dying off at an alarming rate elsewhere... So let me just say you're all awesome!

I have scoured the extension agent's information probably three times, lol, enough to get flower names firmly rooted (punny I know) in my mind. Even found a combination of seeds for sale on Amazon that should suit my intentions. I don't know what Wyoming soil is like, but here there's a lot of coarse sand. Shale and slate based. I don't see markers of clay like I'm used to, I don't see a lot of big rocks, but heaven help me there are billions of smaller ones. The chickens do not lack for grit, let me just say that.

Have power tools will build, lol. We have quite the collection going, some old some new, all in pretty good working order. I should start taking pictures shouldn't I? We've already ripped out one wall in the bedroom, have it mudded, and are ready for the final sanding. The wall was in dismal shape, not moldy or damaged, just not... flat. Walls are supposed to be... flat. 60's construction incorporated plaster with ugly patterns over chicken wire (plaster mesh technically, they like to pretend it's different) over some ancient fiberboard. It started to sag in places where support was lacking as the material aged. No asbestos. Safety first anyway. Anytime we cut, sand, or otherwise disturb the old paint we've got filters on that are rated to handle lead paint, plus safety glasses or shields.

Hadn't thought about the hay, but I like anything that means less work. I've had a compost pile going for a number of months now, it's starting to turn to black gold. I'll incorporate what I can come spring and look into this compost tea phenomenon for the rest of the nutrients.

We just bought one of those little plastic greenhouses, hubby promises he'll have it put together by spring. Not holding my breath, lol. Got a lot on our plate as it is.

 

[wyoDreamer]

Wyoming soil was rocks, sand, clay, and rocks. All covered in rotten granite - all the fine particles had blown away so the "chicken grit" was all that was left. In Wisconsin, people pay big money to haul in "rotten Granite" for making paths and such.

It would take a shovel and a pry bar to dig a hole. When we decided to plant a windbreak, we bought a tractor and a post hole digger. Four shear pins later, we had 100 holes for tree seedlings to go in.
Glad you have something you can dig in.

 

[itsasmallfarm]

hello everyone,

adding a porch onto the front of the chicken coop, (well family is i got school work to do at the moment) due to the cold weather coming (live in Sask Canada we get minus 40C quite common here in the winter), so this porch is really to stop as much cold air going into the coop this winter.

last night a raccoon raided our bird feeder (its just for the wild birds/squirrels) so that sucks but set the live trap for it and hoping to catch it.

 

[lazy gardener]

I do hope you catch the varmint. What did you bait it with? Cool weather here. I should be out prepping the green house for planting.