Just curious who else is living super frugal

[Tikkijane]

Let me look at the tree tomorrow and I'll see if I can get good cuttings.  I'll PM you. 

And how are we keeping the chooks out? I would love to plant some stuff (like blue berries) but we completely free range and I haven't sorted out the garden or any of that yet.....

 

[lazy gardener]

Protecting the garden Course 101: Deer fencing/netting comes in a 7'w x 100'L roll. You can cut it in half with a pair of scissors to yield 200' of 3.5' tall fencing. I use fiberglass fence posts threaded through it and clip it at the top (to keep it from sliding down) with clothes pins. It's nearly invisible from about 10' away, and the chickens are confused by it. They only get over it by accident. You will need to hold it down to the ground with tent stakes, land scape fabric stakes, or tree crotch pegs to keep them from going under it. Since putting it up, they cruise around my garden trying to figure out how to get in, especially when i'm working in the garden. They stand and look at the strawberries, then take off across the lawn.

Last year was difficult. I hadn't figured out the fencing, and was always shooing the chickens out of the garden, and they practically wiped out my blueberry crop. Superchemicalgirl was the first person to mention the deer fencing. Works like a charm and is super cheap as fencing goes!

 

[Arielle]

Quote: YOu might consider high bush blueberries, though the wild birds will help themselves too.

For me I'm expecting to have the low bush be part of the freeranging chickens diet. BUt I am wondering if we will get any of the berries for ourselves . . . .

 

[lazy gardener]

You could cover a patch of them with bird netting. It comes in 14' x 14' and larger sizes. However, if you do use the bird netting, best to stretch it tight so none of the little wild birds don't get stuck in it. Or, you could fence in a patch with deer netting. I don't think the wild birds would bother a fenced in patch too much... or you could just share!

 

[LindaB220]

YOu might consider high bush blueberries, though the wild birds will help themselves too.

For me I'm expecting to have the low bush be part of the freeranging chickens diet. BUt I am wondering if we will get any of the berries for ourselves . . . .

You can put a small 1" hole chicken wire around it to keep them off of it for a few years.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: THere are hundreds of wild low bush blueberries in our woods. I"m hoping that once a few more trees are removed to open the canopy those bushes will bloom.

May need to fence off a sectin of the garden anyway.

I'm learning about how to graft fruit trees and starting cuttings-- the possibiites are endless!! Never occured to me until today to graft each of my pear trees onto each other.

 

[LindaB220]

I have a new storeroom that is not insulated. Even with an A/C running and a fan during the day it's over 104. I've been thinking about making one of these just to have some place to keep my hatchlings for a few days. Do you think it will be too humid?

 

[lazy gardener]

Arielle: I'm learning about how to graft fruit trees and starting cuttings-- the possibiites are endless!! Never occured to me until today to graft each of my pear trees onto each other.

The pear grafting is an excellent idea. That way, if one of your trees gets killed, you'll have preserved the genetics for the future of your orchard. As a matter of fact, if you're successful with grafting, it'd be a good idea to graft all of your trees to increase your diversity, and keep different gene pools going. Not to mention the benefit of multiple types of fruit on a single tree for pollination benefit.

 

[Arielle]

Arielle: I'm learning about how to graft fruit trees and starting cuttings-- the possibiites are endless!! Never occured to me until today to graft each of my pear trees onto each other.

The pear grafting is an excellent idea. That way, if one of your trees gets killed, you'll have preserved the genetics for the future of your orchard. As a matter of fact, if you're successful with grafting, it'd be a good idea to graft all of your trees to increase your diversity, and keep different gene pools going. Not to mention the benefit of multiple types of fruit on a single tree for pollination benefit.

Grafting is very exciting-- it is like have a varity of chickens: grafting allows for a huge number of varieies, AND even if there is room for only one tree!

I started to realize the value of apple trees when a fellow in VT plants them for his hogs-- or that is what I remember, maybe I dreampt it!! lol I started to realize that sheepa nd chickens could sub for the hogs. ANd of course put some away for our own use.

I'm looking for sugarlesss preservation methods. Which means I have lots of old methods to find and learn. One change in my thinking is to allow for fruit sugars. . . . I really would like to know how the homesteaders of 200 years ago before sugar was available kept their food. Surely not all methods will be possible. BUt the little gray cells are churning . . . .

Pickled crab apples . . . hmmmmm

 

[KentuckyMom]

It seems to me I read a lot about those people from yesteryear drying much of their fruit. It takes time though. I dried some apple rings one year. It seemed like I had a lot of apples ,but after I dried them, they didn't look like much. I think a good dehydrator would make a difference( mine wasn't high quality- it used a light bulb), but then years ago they didn't have dehydrators; they just set them outside in the heat. You'd have to figure out a way to keep bugs and critters off though...