So I just found out people have made comments to he blog and it never went anywhere. I had no idea.
We are starting a new blog and slowly moving things to the new sites one dedicated to the farm, growing, and Aquaponics, and the other to prepper stuff.
Www.wolfbeachfarms.com
https://suburbanpreppers.wordpress.com/
If you have comments ideas or suggestions go there.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Potatoes
So this is the first year either of us have ever grown potatoes. Have no idea why we haven’t until now, but just thought it was effort and trouble. That and potatoes are cheap.
We read about growing them in stacked tires. You lay one tire down. Put your seed potatoes in and cover. When the plants get 6” tall put another tire on and add more soil until plants are covered to the top with only the top of the last layer of growth exposed. Keep repeating until the tires are 4-5 tall. Each layer will sprout more potatoes in the new level. So each layer can have a couple of pounds of potatoes.
We started then and got about 2-3 tires tall then the plants died mid-summer from heat and drought. We didn’t water much in hopes to make plants stronger and reduce costs; we have city water, and hadn’t put in our rain collection systems yet.
So we let them sit until we started to cut down the remaining garden assuming our potato days were over. We still had two sweet potato plants and were still green so no big loss.
Once we moved the tires we found about 3 lbs of red, and Idaho potatoes in the dirt. We cooked them up and planted some of the potatoes we harvested that had already started to re-sprout. They are growing will and are not on level two.
Here is a picture of the sweet potatoes we got from TWO plants. Neither of us have ever cooked sweet potatoes, but that is some haul from only two plants. Next year we think we will plant 10 or so potato plots if not more. Trying to scope out more free tires. You would have thought the tire stores would just give them to you. No so. After visiting 4 different places, none would give them to me. And they have to PAY to get rid of them. More of our good ol’ government at work. Regulations prevent them for giving them to us I found out later. Back to good ol’ Craigslist and find me someone trying to get rid of them.
We read about growing them in stacked tires. You lay one tire down. Put your seed potatoes in and cover. When the plants get 6” tall put another tire on and add more soil until plants are covered to the top with only the top of the last layer of growth exposed. Keep repeating until the tires are 4-5 tall. Each layer will sprout more potatoes in the new level. So each layer can have a couple of pounds of potatoes.
We started then and got about 2-3 tires tall then the plants died mid-summer from heat and drought. We didn’t water much in hopes to make plants stronger and reduce costs; we have city water, and hadn’t put in our rain collection systems yet.
So we let them sit until we started to cut down the remaining garden assuming our potato days were over. We still had two sweet potato plants and were still green so no big loss.
Once we moved the tires we found about 3 lbs of red, and Idaho potatoes in the dirt. We cooked them up and planted some of the potatoes we harvested that had already started to re-sprout. They are growing will and are not on level two.
Here is a picture of the sweet potatoes we got from TWO plants. Neither of us have ever cooked sweet potatoes, but that is some haul from only two plants. Next year we think we will plant 10 or so potato plots if not more. Trying to scope out more free tires. You would have thought the tire stores would just give them to you. No so. After visiting 4 different places, none would give them to me. And they have to PAY to get rid of them. More of our good ol’ government at work. Regulations prevent them for giving them to us I found out later. Back to good ol’ Craigslist and find me someone trying to get rid of them.
Friday, October 26, 2012
Hillbilly wannabe
Just like being a prepper isn’t a bad thing being termed a redneck or hillbilly shouldn’t be either. Lets look at each of these and you tell me who is better off? The suburbanite cube dweller watching on demand real housewives while eating at Mcdonalds to keep the kids quiet. Or the true self sufficient country dweller working the farm, watching the sun go down, and telling to kids to play with dirt and a stick, and they are happy about it.
The Appalachian American, aka hillbilly, aka redneck are for the most part self-sufficient. Typically they will live out in the sticks away from cities and services cities provide (police, fire, medical), stores, grocery etc. You rely on your family and neighbors. If you need something you make it, fix it, grow it, harvest it, process it or do it yourself. If you don’t know how to do something you either ask family/neighbors for assistance who teach you to do it, because they sure as hell won’t do it for you, or you figure it out on your own. Redneck engineering? It may not be pretty, but it works, did the job it was intended to do, cost little to nothing, and did it on their own.
Most can hunt, fish, forage, or grow their own food.
Most live simple lives without the need of TV, electronic gadgets, or other means of entertainment, spending, or waste.
Most have knowledge passed down from generation to generation about healing, medicines, and cures for what ails them. They know what plants are good for what. They don’t have many of the issues a lot of us do because they don’t eat all the chemicals and crap that we do.
Almost none accept or want government handouts.
Security isn’t as much of an issue because 99% of the time they are armed, can shoot better than most trained individuals, and people generally know not to mess with them. Country justice is a pretty good deterrent. That and there isn’t much worth stealing to most modern criminals. Because they live in a close community, know their neighbors, and friends/family are all over where they live, chances are if something goes on, either you know who did it, or someone you know, and it will get back to you.
Your family, friends, and neighbors are there for you in your time of need, as you are there for them. If a storm knocks down a few trees across the road and takes out power, they will have it cleaned, power back on, and business as usually before the city dwellers can even coordinate because of the levels of government, permits, etc. who is doing what, who is responsible for what. It just gets done.
You use the barter system and there is a code/honor system. You trust and respect each other.
If the entire financial/economic system collapsed tomorrow would it affect them? Probably not, just no more taxes on their land. So they just may benefit from it.
Pandemic, many are so isolated may not even reach them.
No water, most drink from wells, ponds, creeks, streams or rivers anyway. They grew up on this water, and are immune to anything living or present in the water.
Terrorist attack, too far and few between targets in the country. Not an issue. Most would look sideways at someone not from the area, and if the individual was viewed as a treat, would be dealt with. No tribunals, no asylum, no apologies for offending their country. Come to my home to do me and mine harm, and well al-Qaida we got a gravel pit/mine shaft with your name on it.
Food sources wiped out? Usually stocked up, and if not, can hunt, gather grow their own. (Book title same name by Jason Akers, Hunt Gather Grow, not calling Jason a hillibilly in a derogatory way)
No power, no worries, most do with little to no power to start.
OMG the internet is down….Most don’t even use it today, and in some cases even know what it is.
Look at you own lives, and could you do all that they do? Do you have the community, the know how? I cannot, but I wish I could, and am trying to educate myself to have a simpler life, a more self-reliant life, a more prepared life. I even say a better life. Would I give up the city, cube, stressed out life to live out in the country with good neighbors, friends and family. You bet.
So maybe before so many use redneck, hillbilly or other term in a derogatory way or look down our noses at them, we should look up to them as how really knows how to survive adversity and disasters.
The Appalachian American, aka hillbilly, aka redneck are for the most part self-sufficient. Typically they will live out in the sticks away from cities and services cities provide (police, fire, medical), stores, grocery etc. You rely on your family and neighbors. If you need something you make it, fix it, grow it, harvest it, process it or do it yourself. If you don’t know how to do something you either ask family/neighbors for assistance who teach you to do it, because they sure as hell won’t do it for you, or you figure it out on your own. Redneck engineering? It may not be pretty, but it works, did the job it was intended to do, cost little to nothing, and did it on their own.
Most can hunt, fish, forage, or grow their own food.
Most live simple lives without the need of TV, electronic gadgets, or other means of entertainment, spending, or waste.
Most have knowledge passed down from generation to generation about healing, medicines, and cures for what ails them. They know what plants are good for what. They don’t have many of the issues a lot of us do because they don’t eat all the chemicals and crap that we do.
Almost none accept or want government handouts.
Security isn’t as much of an issue because 99% of the time they are armed, can shoot better than most trained individuals, and people generally know not to mess with them. Country justice is a pretty good deterrent. That and there isn’t much worth stealing to most modern criminals. Because they live in a close community, know their neighbors, and friends/family are all over where they live, chances are if something goes on, either you know who did it, or someone you know, and it will get back to you.
Your family, friends, and neighbors are there for you in your time of need, as you are there for them. If a storm knocks down a few trees across the road and takes out power, they will have it cleaned, power back on, and business as usually before the city dwellers can even coordinate because of the levels of government, permits, etc. who is doing what, who is responsible for what. It just gets done.
You use the barter system and there is a code/honor system. You trust and respect each other.
If the entire financial/economic system collapsed tomorrow would it affect them? Probably not, just no more taxes on their land. So they just may benefit from it.
Pandemic, many are so isolated may not even reach them.
No water, most drink from wells, ponds, creeks, streams or rivers anyway. They grew up on this water, and are immune to anything living or present in the water.
Terrorist attack, too far and few between targets in the country. Not an issue. Most would look sideways at someone not from the area, and if the individual was viewed as a treat, would be dealt with. No tribunals, no asylum, no apologies for offending their country. Come to my home to do me and mine harm, and well al-Qaida we got a gravel pit/mine shaft with your name on it.
Food sources wiped out? Usually stocked up, and if not, can hunt, gather grow their own. (Book title same name by Jason Akers, Hunt Gather Grow, not calling Jason a hillibilly in a derogatory way)
No power, no worries, most do with little to no power to start.
OMG the internet is down….Most don’t even use it today, and in some cases even know what it is.
Look at you own lives, and could you do all that they do? Do you have the community, the know how? I cannot, but I wish I could, and am trying to educate myself to have a simpler life, a more self-reliant life, a more prepared life. I even say a better life. Would I give up the city, cube, stressed out life to live out in the country with good neighbors, friends and family. You bet.
So maybe before so many use redneck, hillbilly or other term in a derogatory way or look down our noses at them, we should look up to them as how really knows how to survive adversity and disasters.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
I'll take a Jack and...
Written by Rick aka DH
So no this is not about Jack Daniels or any other type of alcohol. This is about Jack Spirko from The Survival Podcast (TSP). While getting ready for my job this morning for some reason I got a quote stuck in my head. I originally heard it in the movie Pulp Fiction. I used to just think it was interesting from the movie, but it was originally from the Bible. I am not a religious person, do not claim to be, and do not aim to offend others by this post. Here is the quote.
Ezekiel 25:17. "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you."
I really thought about this and for some reason (maybe lack of sleep, maybe new found purpose) and probably because I have been listening to TSP from episode one again for about 12 hrs a day while in my cube and is just in the background. Here is what I got out of it today.
“The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men.” This is you surrounded by government, government policies, big corporations, and the millions of grasshoppers out there living on the handouts, welfare, credit cards etc. These are the people dragging down the country today and leaches and parasites of the country who feed on those that pay taxes and actually work for a living. This is you trying to live a better life, help others, and doing the right thing.
“Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness.” This is Jack, through the podcast, the forum, and the TSP community. Educating and leading others out of the dark of their ignorance of what all was going on. He, the community, and the forum do this without expecting anything in return. The Valley of darkness if what this country has become and the tough times that are approaching. More on what Jack and TSP has done for me and my family later.
“For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children.” Jack and the TSP community are all looking out for each other like family and constantly on the lookout for those lost in the darkness leading them to the light. I was lost, in debt, unprepared, unaware of my surroundings, unaware of what my government was doing. I was a grasshopper, I was a sheep.
“And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers.” When one of us is done wrong by government, a right violated, yet another tax, a restriction placed, we all rally around the camp fire, gather strength, and we defend our rights. This may come in the form of a call campaign, e-mail, or just letting us all know either from the podcast, the forum, our blogs, or news media. We (the community) have now gained enough mass that it is no longer one or two voices, it is a crown of 50,000 or more as far as I can tell, and growing daily as more lost children are found.
“And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you." I mean no disrespect here to the religious people, but I took this as “You will know we are The People when we stand up and oppose you”. Others may see this as God, or whichever higher power you believe, is using you, Jack, etc. as an instrument of their will.
What has Jack and the TSP (referring to the TSP community and forum) done for me….
Without Jack and the TSP I would still be living as a grasshopper. I would still believe in debt, credit cards, and the belief that the government would save us no matter what.
Without Jack and the TSP I would have not started a blog, reaching out to other people and helping enlighten them. If I enlighten 3 people and each of them spread to three people. Now multiply this by 100, or 1000. How many more will wake up.
Without Jack and the TSP I would not be on my way to starting my own business and stop being one of the sheep in the cube farm working just to pay for the stuff I have. I would not have thought that I am more than a 9-5 button pusher in a cubicle.
Without Jack and the TSP I would have not found a community and family where I feel I belong. No judging, no assumptions, no guilt. Only support and help. You post something to the community and people you have never met, may never meet other than in cyberspace reach out offering to help, advice, information, understanding, and compassion.
Without Jack and the TSP I would be so far less educated than I was before. I have gained more REAL education here than any time spent at a university. Real life education and knowledge and it didn’t cost me a thing. Theoretical Physics or English Lit has no applications in much of my life today. But how to plant a garden, how to make my own food, how to power my own house I can use EVERY day.
Without Jack and the TSP I wouldn’t have my expanded my garden, build my aquaponics greenhouse, discovered permaculture, realized I could have back yard chickens in city limits, medicinal herbs, essential oils, and the list could go on.
Without Jack and the TSP I wouldn’t be heavily involved in my own prepper community, found my prepper store, ISD, or teach free classes to others on things I have learned. These classes have gotten me more friends, community involvement, sense of belonging, and pride in educating others on what I have learned.
Without Jack and the TSP I wouldn’t have built stronger bonds with my family as we all work to common goals of being more prepared. Relying on these bonds and preparations such that if something happens, we can rely on each other and our preparations to get us through just about anything.
Without Jack and the TSP I wouldn’t have applied, and gotten my LTCH (License to Carry a Handgun), and OC (open carry) regularly. Not to intimidate, not to make a spectacle or cause trouble, but to reach other people. To spark a conversation, and help educate others. Many in our area don’t know the rights, laws, or regulations. This led me to start a free class for “Intro to Firearms” to educate others. While it may not get them to carry or even become a gun owner, they are now educated, and more than likely will help oppose future attempts at firearm restrictions, or at the minimum, will not join the fight to further regulate.
Without Jack and the TSP I would still be a grasshopper, a sheep, an ignorant blip droning through the days, oblivious to what is around me.
This could go on, but this is just since January 2012. I wish I would have found it sooner, but making up for lost time and listening to back episodes. Of all the podcasts I am aware of TSP is the highest count number at 1000+.
So Thanks Jack and the TSP community. If you are already involved in TSP thanks, if you haven’t been yet, helpfully this will encourage you to do so.
www.thesurvivalpodcast.com
grasshopper = someone who is unaware, hasn't awakened yet. based on the fable the ant and the grasshopper.
Sheep = those that follow without question or understanding
TSP = The Survival Podcast
ISD = Indiana Self Defense (my local prepper store)
OC = Open Cary of firearms
CC = Concealed Carry of firearms
DH = Dear Husband
Ass Clowns = government in general who do dumb things
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
299 Days & Glen Tate II
So I managed to connect with the author of 299 Days, Glen Tate. He is giving Indiana Self Defense free bookmarks to hand out at the store. I am very grateful to him for this and we will be handing them out with every purchase. This is something you cannot buy or get anywhere that I am currently aware of. Thanks Glen and Prepper Press. Hopefully they will arrive for our next class at the store.
I have finished both books and am eagerly awaiting book 3 and 4 supposed to be out mid November. I am totally hooked. The whole family is, even the 10 year old loves the books.
These books made me think of things in a new light. I thought we were better prepared than most but showed me things I had not yet realized. It also made me start paying attention to the economics and financial situation around me. I went to the grocery store tonight (we only go once a month or longer and usually buy at restaurants supply in bulk) and realized how much food prices have gone up and continue to go up. I find myself saying literally out loud "I am not paying that much". Times are changing and I feel it is going to get worse.
I also think the book is good to have people read who are not all into the prepper world. I think it may open their eyes just ever so much. I think they are enlightening so much so I am putting the book and a reference into the free classes I give at ISD for "intro to prepping" and "getting your spouse or family on board". If you have read or checked the books out please do so.
I have finished both books and am eagerly awaiting book 3 and 4 supposed to be out mid November. I am totally hooked. The whole family is, even the 10 year old loves the books.
These books made me think of things in a new light. I thought we were better prepared than most but showed me things I had not yet realized. It also made me start paying attention to the economics and financial situation around me. I went to the grocery store tonight (we only go once a month or longer and usually buy at restaurants supply in bulk) and realized how much food prices have gone up and continue to go up. I find myself saying literally out loud "I am not paying that much". Times are changing and I feel it is going to get worse.
I also think the book is good to have people read who are not all into the prepper world. I think it may open their eyes just ever so much. I think they are enlightening so much so I am putting the book and a reference into the free classes I give at ISD for "intro to prepping" and "getting your spouse or family on board". If you have read or checked the books out please do so.
HS432
All, if you want a free education in permaculture type in the above into iTunes university. 36 hour university course lecture on permaculture. I have watched it once and will watch it again because there is a ton if info and I didn't get some of the concepts until later in the course. Short as posted from phone. Sorry no links.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Power out...
So, big storm the other night and wind took out power. No worries. We cooked out on the grill. Home made pasta, with garlic, shrimp, butter sauce made on the grill. All the other neighbors forked out cash to go out to eat. Grasshoppers.... The ants had two tanks of gas, ate by oil lamp, and had a nice meal.
Shrimp...it's what's for dinner
Did you know you can store shrimp long term? Neither did we. So we got a deal 30 lbs of peeled, deveined shrimp 1/2 off. Great right? Well it was frozen and what if the freezer goes out? 30 lbs of stank fish smell. We used our google power and discovered you steam shrimp, dice them up, and dehydrate at 145 until dry. Boom, we got long term shrimp storage. Pop it in zip lock bag and into the freezer to push storage longer.
Monday, October 15, 2012
New classes/dates at ISD
Here are some new dates added to ISD FREE classes/discussions
Indy 1500
Come see Indiana Self defense at the Indy 1500. There will be special deals for the month of October.
October 19th, 20th and 21st. Indiana State Fairgrounds. www.indy1500.com
Intro to firearms
Have a spouse or family member afraid of firearms? Are you a new gun owner? Are you wanting to be a new gun owner? This class is for you. Intro to firearms is a back to basics about firearms, rights and laws. This class is designed for people who have never owned a firearm or their only experience is from the media or TV.
Indiana Self Defense.
Class starts at 4PM roughly 1-2 hr depending on how lively our discussion is.
8017 E Washington St
Indianapolis IN 46219
Bring a chair, there are a few at the store.
October 27th
Prepper Thanksgiving
Bring a dish using only your preps. Must be a stored, gathered, hunted item and how it was prepared. There are only so many ways you can fix rice and beans. Can you make biltong? Bring some. Can you dehydrate and make a stew/soup. Bring it. Don’t have a clue what to do or how to use you preps, come learn. Participation is requested but not required, even if it is making a pitcher of koolaid or hot chocolate.
November 1st at
Indiana Self Defense.
6 PM…ish.
8017 E Washington St
Indianapolis IN 46219
Bring a chair, there are a few at the store.
Prepping 001 Intro to prepping
New to prepping? Think prepping is one of “those” tin foil hat people? Come see the light. 20+ topics covered, along with tips, techniques, handouts, notes, web resources and great discussion and dialog. Meet some other like minded people and network. Spouse or significant other not on board? Maybe this will help. It is free and sell it as cheap entertainment for an afternoon.
Free class/discussion at
Indiana Self Defense.
Class starts at 4PM roughly 1-2 hr depending on how lively our discussion is.
8017 E Washington St
Indianapolis IN 46219
Bring a chair, there are a few at the store.
November 17th
Kids and Prepping
Are your kids ready to bug out? What do you pack for them? What do you tell them? What if something happens while you are at work? What is your plan? How to talk to them and not scare them? Do you kids know what to do in case of a fire? Do your kids know what to do if something happens to you? This is not a put fear in you type discussion. This is a cover you basis so you are prepared if something happens. Preparation is the best defense in an emergency situation.
Free class/discussion at
Indiana Self Defense.
Class starts at 6PM roughly 1-2 hr depending on how lively our discussion is.
8017 E Washington St
Indianapolis IN 46219
Bring a chair, there are a few at the store.
December 6th
Essential Oils AND Medicinal Herbs
If you missed out on the October date for Essential Oils, Mother Wolf Herbals aka BBK76858 will be offering the same presentation (with a few extras) and combining with medicinal herbs. Learn about essential oils and growing, harvesting, and using your own medicinal herbs. 2 for 1 deal and bonus it is a FREE class and discussion. Made possible by the generosity of Indiana Self Defense. Free hand outs, notes, resources, and as always active discussion.
Class starts at 4PM roughly 2-3 hr depending on how lively our discussion is.
8017 E Washington St
Indianapolis IN 46219
Bring a chair, there are a few at the store.
December 8th
Other upcoming classes/discussions
· Prepping with Kids
· Medical/First aid
· Gardening basics From apartment gardening to aquaponics
· Growing medicinal herbs
· Water purification and storage (repeat)
· Fire (repeat)
· BOB (Bug Out Bags) II follow up to the first class, bring your updates, new or revised bag.
Stay tuned for updates.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Free class on prepping
Saturday September 29th
Intro to prepping class/discussion. Being a prepper isn't a bad thing. Come out and learn what prepping REALLY is. Not those people you see on TV. We will cover many general topics and general overview. Curious about how to get started? Just want to come see what it is all about? Being a prepper isn't a bad thing. Cover terms, and 20 other topics from BOB (what is a BOB?), to financial independence (how does that fit into prepping?). Already familiar with prepping? Send friends and family as an intro. This is FREE. Bring your own chair. Safe for all levels of questions and experience.
Starts at 4PM.
Located at
Indiana
Self
Defense
8017 E. Washington St. Indianapolis 46219 E Washington st, 317-534-0571
Behind the Arby’s.
Intro to prepping class/discussion. Being a prepper isn't a bad thing. Come out and learn what prepping REALLY is. Not those people you see on TV. We will cover many general topics and general overview. Curious about how to get started? Just want to come see what it is all about? Being a prepper isn't a bad thing. Cover terms, and 20 other topics from BOB (what is a BOB?), to financial independence (how does that fit into prepping?). Already familiar with prepping? Send friends and family as an intro. This is FREE. Bring your own chair. Safe for all levels of questions and experience.
Starts at 4PM.
Located at
Indiana
Self
Defense
8017 E. Washington St. Indianapolis 46219 E Washington st, 317-534-0571
Behind the Arby’s.
Friday, August 31, 2012
299 days
Hey everyone. We have started reading a new book series and written by a guy I met of the TSP forum. Wife, daughter and I are all reading the series. Book one and two are out. I don’t endorse products from one vendor or another and this is not a sales pitch. I am ½ way into the first book and have read a lot of reviews. 299 Days by Glen Tate is a great book, and I haven’t read a fiction book in over 15 years. I would rather read non-fiction and learn, just my choice. The book is about prepping, homesteading, and a potential future we are hearing to as a country. Glen has never written and is not a typical author. The book really spoke to me, so if you get a change check it out. If you have souse that is on the fence about prepping or blind to where the country is heading it might be a good introduction and eye opener. Amazon has it in paperback and e-book. We all got the e-book. There is also a book group that starred on the TSP forum.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Raspberries and seed tips
So here is the latest from our garden. Our first raspberry. These little plants we picked up on clearance at Home Depot later in the season. We didn’t them to live let alone produce the same year they went in.
A few tips. If we have some time to kill or if we happen to go to one of the big box centers we ALWAYS take a look in the nursery area. They will mark down plants that don’t “look good or are on the edge of death. You can usually pick them up relatively cheap like 75-90% off. I think these plants were regularly $9.99 each and we picked them up for $0.99. We bought all they had and spread around yard. Worst case they died and went into compost. We asked the nursery manager if we bought them all would he give them to us at 0.99 rather than the 1.99 they were asking. What is worse they could say, no?
A little aged horse poo, compost, and some mulch on top. We set in the ground and watered daily for a week, then every other day. For about 2 weeks and let nature takes its course. They all took off, and are doing well without any more intervention from us.
Here is another tip. We buy all our seeds at reduced price. Again the big box stores will reduce seeds at the end of the season (Around July). The seeds are dated and they usually do not sell older seeds the following year. We picked up over 300 packets of seeds from $0.01-$0.10 this year. They will store for long periods if kept dry and cool. Some even do better in the freezer/refrigerator. We have even found seed packets in the back of closets and drawers that were from 5-8 years earlier and plant. What is the worst that will happen. Sometimes they grow and sometimes not. Never hurts to try. But always have plan B. I wouldn’t put family food production solely on those seeds we found.
A few tips. If we have some time to kill or if we happen to go to one of the big box centers we ALWAYS take a look in the nursery area. They will mark down plants that don’t “look good or are on the edge of death. You can usually pick them up relatively cheap like 75-90% off. I think these plants were regularly $9.99 each and we picked them up for $0.99. We bought all they had and spread around yard. Worst case they died and went into compost. We asked the nursery manager if we bought them all would he give them to us at 0.99 rather than the 1.99 they were asking. What is worse they could say, no?
A little aged horse poo, compost, and some mulch on top. We set in the ground and watered daily for a week, then every other day. For about 2 weeks and let nature takes its course. They all took off, and are doing well without any more intervention from us.
Here is another tip. We buy all our seeds at reduced price. Again the big box stores will reduce seeds at the end of the season (Around July). The seeds are dated and they usually do not sell older seeds the following year. We picked up over 300 packets of seeds from $0.01-$0.10 this year. They will store for long periods if kept dry and cool. Some even do better in the freezer/refrigerator. We have even found seed packets in the back of closets and drawers that were from 5-8 years earlier and plant. What is the worst that will happen. Sometimes they grow and sometimes not. Never hurts to try. But always have plan B. I wouldn’t put family food production solely on those seeds we found.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Podcasts
Hi all, just wanted to give a heads up to anyone out there who listen to Podcasts that Jason Akers is back on the web from The Self Sufficient Gardner. Great listening for gardening and basically living off and with the land to meet your needs.
http://theselfsufficientgardener.com/
Check out the forum and read what some of the listeners are doing and contributing.
http://www.theselfsufficientgardener.com/forums/
I mentioned about building your own greenhouse rather than purchasing. Here is link Jason’s Greenhouse project.
If you don’t know what a podcast is Google it, but it is essentially a radio program posted to the web. You download and listen on an MP3 player, iPhone, tablet, or even right on the computer. I got tired of listening to the doom and gloom on the radio, the same 12 songs over and over, and the endless commercials yelling at me. There are so many podcasts that can actually teach you something, educate yourself, or just plain more interesting than “Sunday Sunday, Sunday only at the …..Monster trucks….”. You can get them directly from websites or from ITunes
There are some I listen to plus Jason. I actually listen to about 50 different ones, but these are the top few.
Jack Spirko and The Survival Podcast 900+ podcasts (5 per week)
http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/
Paul Wheaton Homesteading and Permaculture 200+ (1-4 per week whenever he feels like it)
http://www.permies.com/
Dave Ramsey one per day no back downloads
http://www.daveramsey.com/home/
Clark Howard 200+ podcasts (2-4 per day)
http://www.clarkhoward.com/
Into the Rabbit Hole Urban Survival 80+ podcasts (1 per week)
http://www.intherabbithole.com/
http://theselfsufficientgardener.com/
Check out the forum and read what some of the listeners are doing and contributing.
http://www.theselfsufficientgardener.com/forums/
I mentioned about building your own greenhouse rather than purchasing. Here is link Jason’s Greenhouse project.
If you don’t know what a podcast is Google it, but it is essentially a radio program posted to the web. You download and listen on an MP3 player, iPhone, tablet, or even right on the computer. I got tired of listening to the doom and gloom on the radio, the same 12 songs over and over, and the endless commercials yelling at me. There are so many podcasts that can actually teach you something, educate yourself, or just plain more interesting than “Sunday Sunday, Sunday only at the …..Monster trucks….”. You can get them directly from websites or from ITunes
There are some I listen to plus Jason. I actually listen to about 50 different ones, but these are the top few.
Jack Spirko and The Survival Podcast 900+ podcasts (5 per week)
http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/
Paul Wheaton Homesteading and Permaculture 200+ (1-4 per week whenever he feels like it)
http://www.permies.com/
Dave Ramsey one per day no back downloads
http://www.daveramsey.com/home/
Clark Howard 200+ podcasts (2-4 per day)
http://www.clarkhoward.com/
Into the Rabbit Hole Urban Survival 80+ podcasts (1 per week)
http://www.intherabbithole.com/
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Aquaponics as of today
Here are some updates on the aquaponics. Sorry for the dark pictures as I took them before I went into work. It was still dark outside and if I didn’t do it today probably wasn’t getting done. I am still planning on making a video probably tonight.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Hugakulture
For those who don't know hugakulture is a type of composting. You use decaying wood as it breaks down and pile up soil on top. We used wood and plants we pulled up. It adds nutrients to the soil and helps retain water. We have had success with using this in pots.
Medicinal herb garden
Here is the garden as of this week. We went and got some mulch to put on the path. Under the chips we put cardboard to gel keep the weeds down. 
Friday, August 17, 2012
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Indoor update and outdoor update
Here is the update of my indoor aquaponics system. I probably should have STARTED with this indoor system before the greenhouse, but go big or go home I guess. This system is a trial to see if we could grow inside. Lesson 1 learned, stock small and grow up not stock big then go down. This system cost us around $50. Clearance fountain pump $30, wash tubs from Goodwill $1, lava rock free from damned people who landscaped before us at our house, fish $1, seeds clearance 0.10, light fixture clearance $10 Menards, $ 10 grow lights using rebate from other purchases, tank was free with trade from guy at work. We are growing romaine lettuce and spinach. Within 5 days this is what the system looked like. We also have a water hyacinth from out outdoor pond, and feed the goldfish duckweed, again from our outdoor pond. The oldest of the girls caught some crawfish and added to the system. They clean left over food, and interesting to look at.
Outside we harvested cantaloupe and watermelon from the greenhouse. We didn’t think this was possible from all that we read, so we planted more. And honeydew and anything else we could think of. We started more tanks for duckweed to feed the growing goldfish. We will soon be adding minnows to eat the mosquito larvae (cant have goldfish in those tanks, will eat duckweed). Neighbors now wanting to but duckweed and water hyacinth from us. Our water chestnuts are multiplying like crazy and can’t wait to add to our stir-fry once we harvest. To date we have successfully grown in the greenhouse;
· Basil (more than we can ever use) Sweet and Greek
· Romaine lettuce
· Cucumbers
· Cantaloupe
· Watermelon sugar baby
· Chives
· Tomatoes (Cherry and Roma)
· Chamomile
· Chinese Water Chestnuts
· Papyrus
· Duckweed
· Water Lettuce
· Water Lilly
· Broccoli
· Swiss Chard
· Spinach
· Marshmallow Root
· Echinacea
· Grean Beans
· Morning Glory
· Honeydew
· Rosemary
· Marigolds
This was in a 10 x 12 foot space, plus about 50 goldfish, 6 frogs, crawfish and at least 4 of each of the above plants, some we have 15 or more of, all growing at the same time. The benefits of vertical gardening.
We have now met with Purdue extension office and SCORE, along with SBA and hope to take this project larger in the near future. This spring we hope to add new species of fish which we can eat. We will hope to get more pics of the greenhouse as it continues to grow and develop.
Outside we harvested cantaloupe and watermelon from the greenhouse. We didn’t think this was possible from all that we read, so we planted more. And honeydew and anything else we could think of. We started more tanks for duckweed to feed the growing goldfish. We will soon be adding minnows to eat the mosquito larvae (cant have goldfish in those tanks, will eat duckweed). Neighbors now wanting to but duckweed and water hyacinth from us. Our water chestnuts are multiplying like crazy and can’t wait to add to our stir-fry once we harvest. To date we have successfully grown in the greenhouse;
· Basil (more than we can ever use) Sweet and Greek
· Romaine lettuce
· Cucumbers
· Cantaloupe
· Watermelon sugar baby
· Chives
· Tomatoes (Cherry and Roma)
· Chamomile
· Chinese Water Chestnuts
· Papyrus
· Duckweed
· Water Lettuce
· Water Lilly
· Broccoli
· Swiss Chard
· Spinach
· Marshmallow Root
· Echinacea
· Grean Beans
· Morning Glory
· Honeydew
· Rosemary
· Marigolds
This was in a 10 x 12 foot space, plus about 50 goldfish, 6 frogs, crawfish and at least 4 of each of the above plants, some we have 15 or more of, all growing at the same time. The benefits of vertical gardening.
We have now met with Purdue extension office and SCORE, along with SBA and hope to take this project larger in the near future. This spring we hope to add new species of fish which we can eat. We will hope to get more pics of the greenhouse as it continues to grow and develop.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Indoor Aquaponics
This it the beginning of our indoor system we are experimenting with. We traded a guy an old sewing machine we were not using for the fish tank, the tubs were purchased at good will for $0.99 and on have off day so $0.50 each. Holes were drilled into the bottom and filled with the unwanted lava rock from our yard. The people who owned our house before us must have owned stock in rock and stone company. We let it run for a few days, then added fish. We will be adding some grow lights tonight. The grow lights were purchased at Menards for $20 for the fixture and another $20 for the bulbs. Fist time attempting this indoors so will keep you posted. If it goes well will switch over to Tilapia.
Why goldfish? We can buy 100 feeder fish at our pet store for $12.95. is not bad if something goes wrong. Plus they grow bigger and will eat algae, duckweed, and other scraps put into the tank. They are relatively hardy and will take abuse while we work bugs out of the systems.
Why goldfish? We can buy 100 feeder fish at our pet store for $12.95. is not bad if something goes wrong. Plus they grow bigger and will eat algae, duckweed, and other scraps put into the tank. They are relatively hardy and will take abuse while we work bugs out of the systems.
Aquaponics greenhouse
So we have finally gotten around to taking pictures of the greenhouse and aquaponics set up. The first picture is what it looked like while we were digging the pond. DH had everything going to a 55 gal rain barrel until the pond liner came and we dug out the bottom.
The other pics are as it is today. We have harvested a lot of the lettuce so it looks a little bare. Also we had a pump failure and didn’t catch it for a few days so we had some plants die off. That and the incredible heat has lowered our production. We could still add double the plants which we hope to as soon as cooler weather starts. DH built a bridge, and added 55 gal barrels along the bottom edge for additional growth areas. Currently we are growing in the greenhouse romaine lettuce, Swiss chard, spinach, broccoli, two different types of basil, marshmallow root, cucumber, marigolds, unknown melon at this point we think honeydew, watermelon, 3 different varieties of tomatoes, some water plants to help with water quality and reduce evaporation, and duck weed. For those that don’t know tilapia and other fish will eat tilapia and has a very high protein content. DH heard that it was higher than soybeans but we really haven’t looked to see if this was true. In the pond we have frogs, tadpoles (mosquito control), couple hundred goldfish (test system until know will last over winter and not kill off tilapia),and crawfish (cleanup of dead organic matter on bottom. And they look cool.
If your are wondering about the stacked cat litter boxes…We were having difficulties with the pump and hoses clogging with sediment and organic matter. DH made this biofilter on the cheap. We had a bunch of these buckets around. Why go buy a 5 gal bucket at a big box store. These are free if you have cats and use this litter, and if not, there are tones in the recycle bin in your areas. So he drilled holes in the bottoms of the top buckets, filled with lava rock (surplus from yard) and places a pump in the bottom. We have a larger pump in the pond with better filters that feed the biofilter. The dirty water trickles down over the rocks where beneficial bacteria remove ammonia, and eat wastes. The water gets oxygenated and goes to the bottom bucket. That water is pumped to the top of the grow tubes. The grow tubes are 4” sewer drain pipes with 2” holes cut along the top. Overflow from the biofilter waterfall back to the pond for more aeration.
If you have questions or want a more detailed picture or description let us know. Do our best to help.
The other pics are as it is today. We have harvested a lot of the lettuce so it looks a little bare. Also we had a pump failure and didn’t catch it for a few days so we had some plants die off. That and the incredible heat has lowered our production. We could still add double the plants which we hope to as soon as cooler weather starts. DH built a bridge, and added 55 gal barrels along the bottom edge for additional growth areas. Currently we are growing in the greenhouse romaine lettuce, Swiss chard, spinach, broccoli, two different types of basil, marshmallow root, cucumber, marigolds, unknown melon at this point we think honeydew, watermelon, 3 different varieties of tomatoes, some water plants to help with water quality and reduce evaporation, and duck weed. For those that don’t know tilapia and other fish will eat tilapia and has a very high protein content. DH heard that it was higher than soybeans but we really haven’t looked to see if this was true. In the pond we have frogs, tadpoles (mosquito control), couple hundred goldfish (test system until know will last over winter and not kill off tilapia),and crawfish (cleanup of dead organic matter on bottom. And they look cool.
If your are wondering about the stacked cat litter boxes…We were having difficulties with the pump and hoses clogging with sediment and organic matter. DH made this biofilter on the cheap. We had a bunch of these buckets around. Why go buy a 5 gal bucket at a big box store. These are free if you have cats and use this litter, and if not, there are tones in the recycle bin in your areas. So he drilled holes in the bottoms of the top buckets, filled with lava rock (surplus from yard) and places a pump in the bottom. We have a larger pump in the pond with better filters that feed the biofilter. The dirty water trickles down over the rocks where beneficial bacteria remove ammonia, and eat wastes. The water gets oxygenated and goes to the bottom bucket. That water is pumped to the top of the grow tubes. The grow tubes are 4” sewer drain pipes with 2” holes cut along the top. Overflow from the biofilter waterfall back to the pond for more aeration.
If you have questions or want a more detailed picture or description let us know. Do our best to help.
Friday, July 13, 2012
We all work on the homestead.
So we have even gotten the littlest redneck to do chores. Here she is washing dishes with her older sister.
And 20 minutes later telling us "we better be using paper plates tonight cuz she ain't doin dishes again.""you will face hot death from my light saber if you dirty one more dish!"
And 20 minutes later telling us "we better be using paper plates tonight cuz she ain't doin dishes again.""you will face hot death from my light saber if you dirty one more dish!"
Delay in posting
Big delay in posting but been busy. The pond/pit/greenhouse is officially 100% in and operational in the greenhouse. We made a decision that since this was the first year and we have no historical data on a pond inside a greenhouse would do over the winter we didn’t want to invest into Tilipia this year. At around $200/100 fish and a required growing time of 6-9 mo it would hit us in the middle of winter. We decided to get another 100 feeder fish at the pet store and see how they all do. 100 feeder fish – $15 bucks. DH build his own biofilter out of recycled materials. This helps work with the fish waste, bacteria and plants to create a balance within the nitrogen cycle.
We took a trip out to Aquatic Designs a pond store about 50 min away. Way better than the local place we have by our house. Bigger selection, more fish, and really helpful. Lots of ponds of every size to get ideas from. We bought some new water plants to go onto the deck/off deck ponds (we added another in ground pond off the deck). We picked up some giant tadpoles for hopes of bullfrogs later this year or next. We learned that American Bullfrogs take around 2 years to go from tadpole to frog. We got them for algae control and mosquito control.
Egg production is lower and we think due to the warmer days of summer. The ladies spend most of the day in the shade under our deck. One of these days we will shoot some videos to post. The ladies are just hours of entertainment. It is like a relay race, game of tag, scavenger hunt, and comedy all rolled into one when we throw something out for them. Worde really cannot describe and even better if you have some cartoon music in the background.
The garden is going like crazy. We harvested 5 large yellow squash. The chickens harvested their own 4 or 5 squash. Our fault for not closing the garden gate. The first of 4 rows of corn will be ready any day. We planted one row every 2-3 weeks so that all of our corn won’t come on at one time. We harvested purple Cherokee green beans and Kentucky wonder green beans and cooked up a big pot in out crock for Father’s day. Sadly our outdoor broccoli just couldn’t take root. Either a bug, slug, or the ravenous vultures (the ladies) kept taking all the plantings out. We are harvesting hot peppers, and have bell peppers coming on the size of a baseball. Almost all of our tomato plants have tomotatoes, but are all still green. New “volunteer” tomato plants are found almost every time we go out to the garden. There has never been plants in these locations, last year it was grass, and no seeds were brought out there. Best guess we have 30+ tomato plants at this point, and could be any number of varieties. Just have to wait and see. The eggplants have flowers, and the onions and garlic are doing well. The potatoes are not doing so hot, but we will just have to wait and see. We harvested our third bunch of radishes, and just planted another batch. The lettuce outside has been fried by the lack of water and heat. The spinach went to seed real quick, and we were able to harvest a little, but only enough for 2 salads. We added some loofa plants in hopes of getting those for shower. Never grown before so should be interesting.
Now, in the greenhouse we have gotten 5 large cucumbers, two heads of lettuce, and everything is growing like crazy. The watermelon finally has a small fruit, and we have more poles for plants. We should be able to start harvesting 5-10 salads a week from the greenhouse or more. We have found that we can grow broccoli in the greenhouse, a and now have tomatoes, cucumbers, spinach, swiss chard, several medicinal herbs, garlic, several bunches of basil (harvested 3 times already), chives (which have been harvested at least 6 times already), water chestnut, zucchini, and water plants. The water plants grow like crazy, and we have given some to our neighbor, and would like to sell if anyone wants some floating water plants.
The medicinal herb garden is growing and blooming. We have taken some of the extra space until the herbs get going and put in peas, cucumber, peppers (which do have medicinal properties) culinary herbs, and along the fence watermelon, tomatoes, and more peas.
So we had some left over containers (due to get more soon) and we made big pot gardens on our deck. In there we have the water features, and now watermelons (we have like 10 fruit already) beans, culinary herbs, morning glories, marigolds, and moon flowers. We put in some mosquito plants, and put in a new wooden picnic table. The new pond by the deck has a walkway for the chickens to drink. Currently fenced off until our boarder plants can grow a bit more. We planted buckwheat in punches to hopefully keep them from getting into the cucumbers we put in to grow up the deck.
We took a trip out to Aquatic Designs a pond store about 50 min away. Way better than the local place we have by our house. Bigger selection, more fish, and really helpful. Lots of ponds of every size to get ideas from. We bought some new water plants to go onto the deck/off deck ponds (we added another in ground pond off the deck). We picked up some giant tadpoles for hopes of bullfrogs later this year or next. We learned that American Bullfrogs take around 2 years to go from tadpole to frog. We got them for algae control and mosquito control.
Egg production is lower and we think due to the warmer days of summer. The ladies spend most of the day in the shade under our deck. One of these days we will shoot some videos to post. The ladies are just hours of entertainment. It is like a relay race, game of tag, scavenger hunt, and comedy all rolled into one when we throw something out for them. Worde really cannot describe and even better if you have some cartoon music in the background.
The garden is going like crazy. We harvested 5 large yellow squash. The chickens harvested their own 4 or 5 squash. Our fault for not closing the garden gate. The first of 4 rows of corn will be ready any day. We planted one row every 2-3 weeks so that all of our corn won’t come on at one time. We harvested purple Cherokee green beans and Kentucky wonder green beans and cooked up a big pot in out crock for Father’s day. Sadly our outdoor broccoli just couldn’t take root. Either a bug, slug, or the ravenous vultures (the ladies) kept taking all the plantings out. We are harvesting hot peppers, and have bell peppers coming on the size of a baseball. Almost all of our tomato plants have tomotatoes, but are all still green. New “volunteer” tomato plants are found almost every time we go out to the garden. There has never been plants in these locations, last year it was grass, and no seeds were brought out there. Best guess we have 30+ tomato plants at this point, and could be any number of varieties. Just have to wait and see. The eggplants have flowers, and the onions and garlic are doing well. The potatoes are not doing so hot, but we will just have to wait and see. We harvested our third bunch of radishes, and just planted another batch. The lettuce outside has been fried by the lack of water and heat. The spinach went to seed real quick, and we were able to harvest a little, but only enough for 2 salads. We added some loofa plants in hopes of getting those for shower. Never grown before so should be interesting.
Now, in the greenhouse we have gotten 5 large cucumbers, two heads of lettuce, and everything is growing like crazy. The watermelon finally has a small fruit, and we have more poles for plants. We should be able to start harvesting 5-10 salads a week from the greenhouse or more. We have found that we can grow broccoli in the greenhouse, a and now have tomatoes, cucumbers, spinach, swiss chard, several medicinal herbs, garlic, several bunches of basil (harvested 3 times already), chives (which have been harvested at least 6 times already), water chestnut, zucchini, and water plants. The water plants grow like crazy, and we have given some to our neighbor, and would like to sell if anyone wants some floating water plants.
The medicinal herb garden is growing and blooming. We have taken some of the extra space until the herbs get going and put in peas, cucumber, peppers (which do have medicinal properties) culinary herbs, and along the fence watermelon, tomatoes, and more peas.
So we had some left over containers (due to get more soon) and we made big pot gardens on our deck. In there we have the water features, and now watermelons (we have like 10 fruit already) beans, culinary herbs, morning glories, marigolds, and moon flowers. We put in some mosquito plants, and put in a new wooden picnic table. The new pond by the deck has a walkway for the chickens to drink. Currently fenced off until our boarder plants can grow a bit more. We planted buckwheat in punches to hopefully keep them from getting into the cucumbers we put in to grow up the deck.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
It’s a Growing
So we have been busy on the Homestead. We have been in the gardens almost every days either weeding or planting more items. We have corn that is almost chest high and should be getting ears on in within the next week. The beans should start with pods very soon…there are tons of flowers on them. We have now planted peas in the Herb garden and will probably plant more along the Vegetable garden tonight.
The herb Garden is growing. We have added a variety of herbs from when we started. We now have chamomile, more rosemary, marshmallow, feverfew, Calendula, Evening Primrose, Purple Coneflowers, more thyme, hot peppers and the DH even found a spot in the wood fence to add a sugar baby watermelon and a tomato plant, because we don’t have enough tomatoes elsewhere. It’s funny about the tomatoes because we found 2 more volunteers last night in the garden in a place we never planted tomatoes before. And the bigger kicker is I don’t like to eat tomatoes unless it’s in sauce, salsa or something like that.
The green house pond is now dug and the bridge is built, we are just waiting on getting the liner in and filling it up with some type of fish. We are still debating on what fish to get.
The container water gardens have finally taken off. We are growing duckweed like crazy now. And the gold fish we got to try out are now about 2 inches long.
The “Ladies” are doing ok. Our next door neighbor got 3 chickens off of us for his mom for mother’s day so the flock went down a few. Then something recently got one of the Dominique’s and her back was cut up but I have her in a crate and she seems to be recovering quite nice. This is the second chicken that I have nursed back to health. One of our reds, Melvina, I thought was egg bound so I did some treatment for her and whatever was wrong with her is now fixed because she is back to running around with those tail feather up.
I will try to get pictures tonight if it doesn’t rain on us but we are making progress and just waiting for the “fruits” of our labor to reward us.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
What's new on the macro farm
So what’s new on the homestead….
The greenhouse is growing like crazy. DH finally got the pH and water balanced to add fish. We got feeder goldfish from the pet store to see if things would work before getting our fish for eating in there. In the meantime the nitrates and nitrites went craze which is just plant food. So exponential growth.
The Pit (aka the fish pond) is 90% complete. We just need to add padding and insulation then the liner and we can add our fish to eat.
The deck pond (aka his experimental pond) is supporting goldfish for a week now and no fish losses for 3 days straight. Most of the tadpoles have developed into frogs/toads.
The medicinal herb garden has more plants in the ground and DH got some good deals on rosemary while out and about and now we have some to harvest and even sell accept donations for our overage pots.
We have dried a ton of herbs; basil, lavender, chives, lemon balm, spearmint, chocolate mint, curl leaf parsley, flat leaf parsley, peppermint, and oregano. All available for donations $5 per dried oz. All 100% organic, no pesticide, herbicides, or manmade fertilizer. We are going to attempt to go 100% organic and only in a real bad situation use Seven dust. Seven if you don’t know can be used on pets for flea control and tick control. It is relatively save, but like I said last resort. We also have a bunch of tomato starters if anyone would like them. $1.50/donation per potted plant. Most pots have at least 2 plants.
DH has been researching and learning about permaculture (planting with nature vs against). It is really hard to explain without seeing it. If anyone is interested in gardening podcast we recommend The Self Sufficient Gardner on iTunes. It is free.
We are adding seedlings and planting to our vegetable garden almost on a daily basis. We got more blueberry pants (again DH got good deal), more garlic (again DH deal), more onions.
We just started another 100 pots in the greenhouse, with another 100 waiting to be potted.
100 more strawberry plants going in, and another 100+ garlic plants. Can you tell we like garlic. We learned something new with garlic. The bulbs you get in the store to eat look just like the kind for planting. But here is what we learned. Each clove in the bulb is a seed started. So we got 40+ bulbs. Reduced to 60% off.
We are having to reinforce the chicken barrier to our garden. Dang ravenous garbage disposals are eating everything. Took out ½ the horseradish plant, ate every spinach plant in the ground and 3 lettuce plants that were close to harvesting. Last week they ate the watermelon rinds. I mean everything, picked clean. All that was left was the hard leathery rind, paper thin. We are thinking about raising meal worms to give them some extra protein. That is DH’s latest idea, well that, then not watering the garden all season, installing another pond and the list goes on.
We checked out the Indianapolis downtown farmers market recently and it was enjoyable. We learned what other farmers were selling and the pricing. There is a wide range of prices, and some didn’t have the same kinds of things we do. We might look at selling at the farmers market next year. We may check out Greenwood’s farmers market this weekend. It is at the public library. The Bargersville flea market also has some good deals on plants, and assorted items.
We may start taking requests to grow items, or start your own plants in the greenhouse. If you would like help creating your own house into a homestead we can help. Share what we have learned, and even make a site visit to help give you some ideas. No yard? Grow on a patio. Have hanging baskets. You can have your own aquaponics system growing fish to eat and supply your edible plants in a window at your house/apartment. Even if you have a dog that pulls up your plants in your garden….you can still plant in other places or have a small cage around them. You know who you are….Any of this interest you, respond to the post, or send e-mail to the DH Rbeach_kk@hotmail.com.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
So what are we doing to start our own Tea Party
Posted by Mama but written by DH
· We have increased our garden footprint. – Last year we had about 20 x 10 so200 sq. ft. of garden space where we grew tomatoes (6), broccoli (6), cauliflower (2), jalapeno peppers (4), celery (4), lettuce (4). We finished the last of the frozen broccoli from our garden this January. We still have some frozen tomatoes and peppers, and like 12 jars of spaghetti sauce.
· This year’s garden – vegetable, herb, pots, greenhouse, trees, misc.
o Vegetable garden – 20 x 80 so 1600 sq. ft. of garden in here thus far tomatoes (12), eggplant (4), squash (12), corn (3 rows of like 40 plants), beans (3 varieties, 4 rows, 50 plants), radishes (60), broccoli (6), lettuce (6), celery (5), garlic (100), onions (100), Baking potatoes (20), red potatoes (20), sweet potatoes (3) and more coming as soon as seed starters get bigger from greenhouse. We will eat off the bounty, collect heirloom seeds, and sell/accept donations for seeds, starters, and vegetables.
o Herb Garden – Wife decided we needed to go more natural and started a medicinal herb garden with culinary herbs thrown in. 15 x 30 450 sq. ft. Won’t even begin to know what all she is putting in there, but I know what I put in for cooking. Basil (3), rosemary (2), horseradish (1) , thyme (4), cilantro (3). We have more sprouting in the greenhouse. From this we will dry herbs, use fresh, collect seeds, and make essential oils from the herbs.
o Pots – we are splitting herbs and extra plants as we get them. These pots can be bartered, sold, used as thank you for donations, gifts, and increase our growing space to areas that either currently do not have gardens, or are non-gardening area (deck, concrete etc.) We took mineral lick containers that were trash given to us by a friend, and turned into large pots on our deck. These are at least 2 ½ foot across and 2 ½ foot deep. We currently have three on our deck and are growing 4 watermelon plants and still have more space. I turned 4 others into a water fountain/garden on the deck. In here we may put fish, or other water plants. Have cat tails and horse tail in there currently along with like 30 tadpoles. Mainly to help clean water and get ready for fish.
o Greenhouse – We bought a greenhouse 12 x 10 last year at a huge discount. In here we have a hydroponics/aquaponics system. Although still in development, it is working and growing. When complete we will have a 3 x 8 x 8 foot pond in the base for fish (we hope tilapia) and 100+ growing sites for plants. The fish waste feed the plants, the plants clean the water, and feed the fish. It is all a closed loop system and sustains itself. Totally organic, and you cannot use any chemicals or risk one of the balances for the fish or plants. The whole system is continually cycling the water and nutrients. We estimate we can produce between 200-1000 pounds of fish each year. That is only ½ the function. The other function is our plant nursery. We start all of our seeds in here and have gotten quite the system for growing. We start about 100-200 seeds at a time. We have a 95% success rate with all the seeds started. Currently on batch 2 in the greenhouse. The seedlings are used in our gardens, bartered/sold/used as donation gifts, gifts, etc.
o Trees – three years ago we bought and planted three fruit trees. We transplanted on from another house we owned. We have an apple, pear, had a cornucopia (peach, plum, and others combined), and what we were told was a Kentucky peach. Last year we thought the peach dropped all its fruit and turns out the oldest of the girls had been eating them all summer. This year the apple has fruit, the pear has fruit and the peach has a bunch of fruit. This fall we plan on taking cuttings and rooting the trees to either plant on our property, pot for sale/trade/donation gifts, or use as gifts. We have to prune all the trees anyway, might as well use the cuttings rather than add to compost.
o Misc. – here is everything we have added plant wise that is not captures elsewhere. We added strawberry plants all over property as ground cover. So anywhere in-between bushes or between flower gardens there is strawberries. They are prolific growers and produce fruit. Much better than just mulch or some other ground cover. We have about 60+ plants. We got our first harvest yesterday. 6 big strawberries. Cost us nothing.
We have 3 grape vines we put in this year. We cut down our existing cypress trees, used all the needles as bedding for the grapes and to acidify the soil. We have blueberry bushes we put in this year. We have about 10 red raspberry bushes and another 20 black berry bushes around the fence and house. These cost us nothing as we dug up from woods by family’s house. These just went in so not much production yet. We plan on adding about another 20+ bushes.
· We have no credit cards and never plan on signing up for them again. We both have learned from the bad spending habits of others, which sent us into debt.
· We changed our debt payoff plan from 5 years to 3 or sooner. Every extra buck goes to debt reduction or savings.
· We now do a ROI (Return on Investment) for everything. If it will not save us money, or produce income, we don’t get it or put low on the priority list.
· We use the app Gas Buddy before filling up. While I once said “it is just a few cents savings” I now say “it is $1 today, and that $1 adds up over a year”
· We stopped or greatly reduced going out to eat. We pack lunches when we go to Zoo, Children’s Museum or other activities. One out for a meal is not that big of a deal, but 6 is a bit more and that adds up fast.
· We buy used if we can. Why pay $100 for something you can get for $5. Example, I wanted some silicone muffin pans for making fire starters. New they are like $10 a piece. I paid $0.50 each. ½ price at Goodwill.
· We have 16 chickens that produce between 6 and 12 eggs a day.
· We make our own pasta. We had to do something with the extra eggs. After we sell, trade, give eggs away, still have more than we can all eat. Plus making your own pasta is healthier, is easy. 4 ingredients, (oil, salt, eggs, and flour) base recipe. Then you can use whole wheat flour, and add in other ingredients like spinach, tomatoes, garlic etc. Look at what is on the back of the box you buy at the store. How many things are in there that you cannot pronounce? Start looking at all the boxes you buy. What is it that you are eating?
· We take our own school/family pictures. With 4 kids, and pictures offered at least 3 times a year and the cheapest package costing $30 that is $360 at least a year, not to mention sports pics, family pics, baby pics etc. We take our own with a backdrop we made, and print at CVS for a few bucks.
· We buy in bulk and often repackage. For example a jar of pizza sauce is $2 and will make two large pizzas. We make pizza’s often. We buy a restraint size can of sauce for $6 and repackage in individual jars (we heat can them to keep longer) and get 8 jars per can. 8 jars in store costs $16 or more. Once our tomatoes come in this year we will make our own sauce, even cheaper! Ketchup, we buy can for $4, then refill ketchup bottles. We can get about 6 bottles out of one can. This would cost us more than $20 at store.
· We make our own pizza. Delivered pizza is around $14 for a large cheese. We make ours for about $2 or less and is ready in <1 ½ hrs and that is to let dough rise. If we make quick version is ready in < 20 min. We buy bulk flour, yeast, oil, cheese, and sauce. All of the ingredients we use in other applications.
· We can/freeze produce from our gardens.
· We barter. Our 16 chickens cost us almost nothing. We traded extra produce from our garden last year to someone wanting to downsize their chicken flock. We did pay some because they are rare breeds.
· Nothing gets wasted at the house. What we don’t eat the cat/dog gets. What they don’t eat goes to the compost for either the chickens, worms, or our garden to reuse.
· We compost, and add everything to it, except meat/protein and oils. The compost gets grass clippings, leaves, weeds, table scraps, shavings from the guinea pig cage, anything organic. Then it produces great soil for next year’s gardens.
· We use ceiling fans rather than air condition, and a fireplace insert for heat in the winter.
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