***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[beautifulpirate]

Basically we'll dig a trench under our raised bed area. In it we will lay out a thick plastic sheeting as a lining in order to make a reservoir. The reservoir will be filled with river Rock and /or course sand and corrugated irrigation tubing. A tube will feed into the reservoir from a bucket that has a toilet float valve in it. The toilet float valve will be fed by a rainwater collection system. The reservoir will be covered by water permeable fabric and then soil. The soil won't fall through the fabric but will wick water upwards, essentially creating self watering for the plants, promoting deeper root systems and eliminating water waste via evaporation. There will be an overflow pipe that leads into the next raised bed with the same setup. In theory, if all of the beds are level and the tops of the reservoirs are level with the float valve, they'll keep filled automatically. The last bed will have an overflow pipe that just leads out from the ground. This will prevent flooding the soil and plants during rainy seasons.

That's just the basic concept behind it. It's a process and going to cost a bit of time and money up front. But in the long run, it will be fantastic and a huge time saver.

For more information, Google wicking garden bed. Adding the float valve and rainwater collection feed is just taking it one step further.

 

[limited25]

Thanks. I'm going to look into that too and see if I can do it here.

 

[NanaKat]

Hi y'all. We recently moved back to Ft. Cobb from the McAlester area. We have bought an old hog farm on 5 acres. We are in the process of fixing up one of the barns that has fallen down. It has the pens still attached even though the walls have fallen. We have Cuckoo Marans, Light Sussex, Salmon Favorolles, Japanese Bantams, Americaunas, Deleware, Chinese Geese, and Pekin duck. We also raise hogs and Highland Cattle. A lot of our chickens are still chicks. It is nice to be here with like minded people. 

. Sounds like you you have a full time farm in the making!

 

[harris.amanda]

Thanks for the welcome NanaKat. We are hoping to become more self sufficient. Right now we are gardening about 1/2 an acre. We hope to add more places to garden right around the house.

 

[Sooner Magnolia]

Got our first pigs today. Hope the kids remember at least one of them will be yummy. Long legs is working on the shelter by himself.

 

[NanaKat]

Got our first pigs today. Hope the kids remember at least one of them will be yummy. Long legs is working on the shelter by himself.

Names like Pork Chop, Bacon, Ham come to mind. I wondered about the blue jeans in the shelter...

 

[Sooner Magnolia]

Names like Pork Chop, Bacon, Ham come to mind. I wondered about the blue jeans in the shelter...

Anna (we tried) and Barbeque (Barbie). Daughter says they are in a "contest" to see who will be the nicest and get to have babies and who will be eaten.

Here is the pigman.

 

[therarebreed]

Got our first pigs today. Hope the kids remember at least one of them will be yummy. Long legs is working on the shelter by himself.

We have thought about raising a couple of pigs. How difficult/easy are they? How much space do they need?

 

[Sooner Magnolia]

I haven't had pigs before. My husband has. Ours are young, so we built a small pen so the kids can get in and get them handled easily. The pen will expand as they do (quickly) I would appreciate any good watering system ideas. I'm thinking a big plastic water barrel with a hog nipple.

 

[Sooner Magnolia]

I haven't had pigs before. My husband has. I'm sure others on here can give more info. We are starting with young ones and built a small pen so we can get them used to being handled. The pen will grow with them. I expect them to be sweet and destructive.

I'd welcome any great ideas on watering systems. I'm thinking big plastic barrel with a hog nipple.