Opa's place -Where an old rooster visits with friends

[Cindiloohoo]

Quote:
Well, hi there Cindiloohoo!! Long time no see!!!!!!!!! Are you keepin' out of trouble???

All is good here. Waiting patiently for spring. Darn Seramas want to set and it's still way too cold here. I have to fight the little boogers to get the eggs away from them. Take care

Howdy Sly!!!!

Good to see you! Keeping out of trouble....hmmmmm..define "trouble" and THEN I'll tell ya if I'm keeping out of it.

Spring is here thankfully. I have started my garden and have garlic, potatoes, onions, turnips, lettuce, carrots and strawberries going outside. Inside I have started peppers, tomatoes, more lettuce, broccoli, and I got me some dwarf blueberry bushes looking good right now too....well except for the goat ate the top off of one of them

I'm planning on a big garden this year

I'm milking that nag of a goat too

She kicks the crap out of me, but I am getting milk. I'm working on setting the pool up for growing some catfish this year, and I tapped my hickory trees to make syrup. I got some more ducks too. All the birds are doing fine. I wish my turkeys would start laying though.

We bought a used truck with some of our income tax money

This summer I plan on hitting the farmers markets selling/bartering some things and maybe I can get a hold of some spent stuff for my animals in the process. I'm also going to sell some animals this summer and use the truck to start hauling off scrap for cash. Work seems to be winding down, so I am hiring myself to do a few things around here

I have the bators fired up now

Well I guess I actually HAVE been staying out of trouble...I didn't realize I had been so busy, but that is kind of a lot of things going on since I last been on here.

Trouble would have found me by now otherwise

 

[Slywoody]

I gotta say, you are ambitious, must be young still. Never heard of tapping hickory before. Up here we tap maples though and it does make some good syrup. We still have lots of snow and cold here. We generally don't plant anything until the end of may and then it's a little shaky depending on frost.

 

[Cindiloohoo]

Quote:
well I didn't get to make syrup this year, but I did taste that yummy sap!! I bet it will make GOOOOOOD syrup! It is pretty sweet suprisingly. You can tap several different types of trees, it is just preferred to tap maple because it has higher sugar content

I am ambitious about not having to be out money in this economy

I am trying to do more for myself and my family....without the use of cash! So far I have saved a TON, and I aint done yet

 

[Slywoody]

You go girl. I'm up to the same thing here.

I try to save wherever i can. I'm only going to town once a week, now that gas is so high. I'm single and used to eat out alot. Now i stay home and cook and i'm getting fat.

This spring i'm selling some of my Seramas and some junk i have laying around. Feed is very expensive here now. 26.90 per 100# Used to be 19.50. Milk here is 4.29/ gal. All gro. are high.

 

[Cindiloohoo]

Sly maybe you should try growing some of your feed. I am planning on planting wheat, millet, and a few other things and have been supplementing with sprouts for the birds and animals through the winter. My feed bill has gone down. Even with the goats now...I still don't spend as much as I was spending on feed stuff. I'm tellin ya I am cutting corners everywhere around this place, and the animals aren't suffering for it either, they are producing MORE! You should try it

 

[Slywoody]

Cindi, i"ve been boiling turkey eggs and feeding them to the girls all winter and i do get some free white bread along with kitchen scraps that i give them everyday. It sure has helped. In the summer i give them alfalfa out of the ditches here. I have a big garden and way too many flowers to tend to. I have a tendency to scrounge feed more so than grow it.

 

[Opa]

With layer pellets approaching $30 per hunderd I think a lot of us are going to be looking for ways to reduce our feed costs. One thing I'm considering planting this year is mangels. Not only will I be able to feed them to the chickens, I'm sure they will be a good draw for deer.

I't pretty nice here this morning, 32 and sunny, but tonight they are calling for a rain and snow mix last through tomorrow. While the brief respites in weather are nice it doesn't pay to get to excited about rushing spring. I never plant anything until Memorial Day, and even then I have to worry about frost well into June. Last year David's garden was doing quite well and the second week of June he went south to visit his mother and brothers. While he was gone we had a hard frost and when he returned he had to replant almost everything.

 

[Highlander]

What are mangels?

 

[texasgal]

Opa's thread will be 1 year old tomorrow .. (don't ask me why I noticed that ..

)

 

[Opa]

Mangels are also know as fodder beets. They used to be raised quite extensively to feed cattle. As farms increased in size and herds became larger they fell from favor. They are not too dissimilar to sugar beets.