Interesting about pigs plowing a field for the nutrition in the plants!
I've spent the morning researching seed life, esp. since I have so many old(er) seeds. Many of them may not germinate merely because I did not store them right. So this year I need to do better because seeds are not getting cheaper, and some are getting downright scarce.
Almost all the seeds I buy (or have bought in 15 years) are OP and/or Heirloom so I can save seed. Now, if I store them right, I'll have seed for next year.
The seeds with the shortest shelf life are: onions, beans, peas, corn, grains. (peas and onions are the worst)
The ones with the longest shelf life are:
Brassicaceae (cruciferous family) broccoli, cabbage, radish
Solanaceae (nightshade family) tomatoes, peppers, eggplant
Cucurbitaceae (melon family) zucchini, watermelon, pumpkin
It's April already!!!
I like the idea of turning the animals onto the plot of beets, but since we are only going to have a couple of each animal this year, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. We don't have any large equipment, so that kind of limits us in how much we can do...well, how much we want to do anyway.
Lulu, thanks...so far everyone is pretty excited about the CSA and I've had a few offers to come down to help whenever it's needed.
Darius, I'm guilty of not storing my seeds properly too. I'm planting a lot of older seed this year, so we'll see how it does.
Cqajun, where are you?
I need to keep more records, period. I get so confused this time of year..stuff growing in every nook, cranny and widow sill. I've lost half my seeds, not to death. Just can't find them.
I keep saying i need to run my household like a business, but this time of year...it's all such a mess.
Robin, there is a wonderful book by Gene Logsdon, All Flesh is Grass. He has lots of advice for running multiple species of farm animals. In such a way that they benefit each other. Another section is using animals, like pigs to replace heavy farm machinery. He is from the north and not all of his ideas would apply here, but for the most part, they do. My library was able to get me a copy.
Another note on beets. My stepfather planted them for beef cattle one year. Altho, his land is an hour away, we have major differences in our soils. His is black land gumbo, a rich black clay that become like rock in the summertime. When the beets degraded it left dangerous pot holes in his pastures. Tho, the cattle gained well, he didn't care to plant them again. Just something to be aware of. Had it been my pasture, I would have seen it as the perfect opportunity to fill those pot holes with organic matter.
Whoooeee! I have wheels again. Buster came over and crawled under the truck (tight squeeze where it's parked) and bled the clutch line. Cost me a quart of lacto-fermented dills!
I'll have to keep an eye on the fluid levels because he could not see where it must have been leaking. But at least now I can drive it to a repair shop. :)
WhooHoo! That will save you a bunch of money!
Congrats on getting your wheels taken care of, Darius. BTW, I almost bought a farm in your general area about 20 years ago. Not far from Clifton Forge, Va. I used to stop there for gasoline on my way home from Norfolk to Ohio. Nice little town.
I made the deal on the tractor yesterday. The bank is running the serial number to make sure there is no lien against it. I'll find out later today. I got the rest of my onion sets in the ground yesterday, and a few more spuds. So far I have almost 1000 feet of mangels, 250 of spuds, 100 onions, another 150 of mixed radishes, turnips, rutabaga, lettuce, and swiss chard. Next week I'm going to start getting my cole crops in the ground. Cabbages, broccoli and Brussel's sprouts. Then I'll be pretty well done planting until mid-May. Then it will be time for peppers, tomatoes, tomatillos, beans, melons, corn, squash, cukes, zukes, etc.
In the mean times I am going to start laying up my wood-fired bread oven. That's my big fun project this summer. I also want to build a small greenhouse, But that can wait till later in the summer. Along with the stone-and-cob hut. I need to hire help, I think.
How many acres do you plant total?
Nik, I do hope you have a digital camera and will take and post photos of your bread oven in progress. Sounds like a fun project! I had to google Clifton Forge, Va since the name is not familiar. Yep, the same kind of area, about 150 miles E-NE from me, still in the Appalachians. (My Dad was a squid, too; we seldom got far from the coastal towns.)
How many people you planning to feed with that garden?
Looks like the onion plants I set out 2 weeks ago are a bust. They looked pretty bad even when I planted them... apparently I left them in the plastic bag too long, shame on me. But I have leek plants coming to replace them. I can buy onions much cheaper than I can buy leeks and shallots over next winter. Onions don't store very well for me anyway... neither homegrown or store bought. I just threw away about 10 pounds from the pantry yesterday. :(
I have the old garden which is a little over 1/4 acre. 125'x125'. This year that will be the mangels, et al, and the rest will be 3-sisters. I will keep using that area in the future, but not for crops that I consider critical. Just stuff I can live without. I'll probably keep it in 3-sisters. The new garden is right at 10000 square feet. A shade less than 1/4 acre. That will be kept in tomatoes, cabbages, peppers, squash, cukes, green beans, etc. Mostly for canning. I'll also have some asparagus, and rubarb, and a small patch for rooting in nursery stock. Besides me, I have my 2 sisters and their families that I supply, and my mother. I sell a little bit of stuff, not much though. I take ALOT to church and folks there save me canning jars and wine bottles. Besides all that, I have a lot of bushes and shrubbery with edibles on them. Mulberries, raspberries, blackberries, golden raspberries, goji, aronia, horseradishes, hickory nuts, walnuts, wild apples, feral pears, sand cherries, and purple juneberries. I can't really say it's done in a permaculture way, but almost everything I plant has edible fruit, even though it may've been planted for shade or flowers, or just as a playpretty.
I'll take pics of the oven project, and the potting hut. I email a guy who wrote THE book about ovens (Kiko Denzer) and he wants documentation of the project, too. I think it will be at least mentioned in the next edition of his book.
If this new little tractor works out the way I think it might, I may expand the gardens so that they'll be a bit more lucrative. We'll see.
pod, I meant to respond to your post about finishing "One Second After"... sorry, I just got waylaid with my own problems. I should probably check it out of the library and re-read it.
Your idea of honing a skill is great! There are many old-time skills that could be in great demand in an emergency, whether it is sharpening an old hand saw and setting the teeth, or herbal medicines. And while we think such emergencies won't happen, who would have thought 2 months ago of the Japanese disaster, or our government maybe shutting down?
I also need to examine my own medical stash. I think the most helpful thing anyone could have is the Red Cross First Aid Manual. I also found an old Merck Manual for animal husbandry in a used bookstore a few years ago. I loaned my copy of the regular Merck Manual to a nursing student and never got it back. I should get another, even if it's an old copy.
The manual is excellent to help with diagnosis of many kinds... I can remember diagnosing a friend's son with measles many years ago when the child was ill, but no outward signs of why. The Merck Manual said to look for one tiny red dot in the mouth on the gum-line outside of the first molar, either side of the mouth... sure enough he had measles, and early diagnosis cut way down on the medical treatment needed.
I have 2-3 gym-type bags of medical supplies, and they all need to be checked and upgraded. Things like black drawing salve, burn bandaging/treatment, simple disinfectants like alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, iodine, mercurochrome and betadine, sterile gloves, water purification tabs, aspirin... I don't have any prescription meds in my kit, mainly because I don't take any now.
I've been looking at adding some pantry items that have the most bang for the buck (nutritionally) in addition to the tummy-fillers. I plan to add a case (100 tins) of sardines in olive oil to my stash. No hazard of mercury as found in tuna, and more calcium and phosphorus because of the edible soft skin and bones. They are sustainable, too. I can get a case for around $130 plus tax.
I'm not frightened of what could happen, weather or otherwise, and I couldn't anticipate every possible scenario anyway. I just know I need to have a secure source of potable water, seeds to grow food, and some foods in the pantry.
That's one of the reasons I am planting so many bushes and trees that give up edibles. It's also why I choose the specific brreds of chickens, ducks, and turkeys that I normally have. The instinct to brood has pretty much been bred out of most farm fowl. However; certain breeds are well known as being good brooders. Buff Orpingtons sometimes start setting as soon as they lay their first dozen or so eggs. Barred Rocks, aren't quite that broody, but maybe 1 out of 3 will go broody. They are more likely to hatch a bigger clutch, too. Bourbon Red turkeys are my favourites, there. Pekin ducks are decent setters, although muscovies are better. But muscovies eggs taste like mud, in my opinion.
I'm not preparing for the "One Second After" scenario. I'm preparing for another Great Depression. That's why I make double payments on the place at least 4 times a year. If I continue making regular payments, I'll be mortgage free in less than 3 years.
As for the "One Second After" scenario; I am diabetic and wouldn't be around much more than 2-3 years anyway. But I'll leave a fantastic place for someone else to build a life on. I hope they don't eat my dog.
This message was edited Apr 8, 2011 8:51 AM
Nik, I think it's only by being proactive in some way no matter how small, that we come out ahead. A home garden, and farm animals for food is surely a good way to be proactive!
I just ordered two used cookbooks from half.com, under $4 each, that may help me do better with less or "other" as time goes by. One is on "variety meats" (the highly nutritional cuts you seldom if ever eat like liver, sweetbreads and kidneys) and one is on Terrines, Pates & Galantines (think meatloaf). These were part of the Time Life series, THE GOOD COOK Cookbooks published in the late 1970s/early 1980s.
Amazing what you can find on a rainy day when you can't work outside as planned! I'm really glad to have found those books... now if I can only find a decent used cast iron terrine pan with lid.. and an older 22 Qt. electric turkey roaster to use as a temp. controlled cheese vat.
Just popping in to say hi. We've been working in the garden and getting lots done.
Darius,
You are right. It's always a good thing to be prepared for whatever may fall. I think EVERYONE should have a few chickens and room for a few cabbages. My problem with the "survivalist mentality" is that a good chunk of the folks in those communities WANT the world as we know it to end. If only so they can say "I told you so" to the dead. I belonged to a Yahoo group once that was called (i Think) Miscelllaneous survival skills. Something like that, anyway. It was a high volume mail list but after 4-5 days I unsubscribed. Some of those folks were PI$$ed !!! when the USSR fell. No WWIII? Now what do we do?!?!?!
When you are diabetic and know that you CAN'T live without modern meds, it changes your outlook significantly. There things one can do to allieviate Diabetes, but without insulin, metformin, actose, glipizide, and others like that, all you are doing is holding off the inevitable a day or 4. Greenbean tea, blueberry leaves, parsnips, and red onions only go so far.
I am lurking again. I envy you guys. And you all seem to have a lot of reality and heads on your shoulders.
I wanted to tell you that in Arkansas and Oklahoma. The old timers let their hogs brouse on acorns and hickory nuts and whatever else they could find. Acorns were supposed to be good for them.
I'll see what i can find but I think there are other herbs that will help diabetis. And i found out myself that at least in the spring if you find yourself low on blood sugar, A couple leaves of sweet gun leaves will bring your sugar up.
I too am stocking up on sardines and tuna.Also on cornmeal,and these cheap packages of rice mixes,dried beans.I keep them in mason canning jars.If you have any Mexican stores around they sell large jars of builion. Chicken,beef and tomato flavor. They make great flavoring.
Vickie
I've read quite a bit about feeding pigs, which added chestnuts and walnuts to those you mentioned. I ran across one company who finished their pigs on acorns specifically to flavor the meat. Pumpkins were said to be a natural wormer.
I'm interested too on the diabetic info.
When I buy stock for my pantry, I buy a lot of canned soup, noodle and rice mixes, instant (just add water) cookie, biscuit, pancake mixes, muffin mixes. and canned meats and entres...anything on sale that I know we will eat and can be prepared with minimal effort or in the case of cookies or muffins, just plain comfort food. I know I could make up all of my own mixes a lot cheaper, I just haven't done that yet.
One of the guys on the sausage forum I frequent has a tag line that says something like "From little acorns, great hams grow"... (I don't remember it exactly.)
Do ya' s'pose I can learn to create money out of thin air like our gubbmint does? Just a few hundred dollars would get me some fencing, 2 milk goats and some chickens! 'Course, I'd need more energy than I have today. The Kid has been sick with some kind of chest congestion, and this morning it seems some of the germs have taken up residence with me too. (How does one do a Bronx Cheer or a Raspberry in print?)
Darius, I'd love it, I you would post some of those "variety meat" recipes. I'm fond of fresh organ meat..I know..weird. I would like to switch the outside dogs to raw diet when we dispatch the calves, so I don't know if I'll keep much for ourselves or not.
Cando1, I have heard that too, about the pigs. My brother lived in Spain for awhile and I remember him saying there is a pig that lives on an island and acorns are their major food source. And then there are the Red Wattles adapted to East Texas post oak savanna.
I not sure, but I don't think all pigs can equally live or digest on acorns alone. Something about the the tannins in acorns?
I don't have any practical knowledge, tho...just chattering.lol
I threw my back out Wednesday. Got a cortisone shot and some goofy-head meds and walking normal today! yay!
Now is a good a time as any if my back is going to give me fits. The guys are going to seed cucumbers later today. Then the seeding will be done till later in the month. The corn is coming up and I found tomato blooms today. Unfortunately, the kitchen is a disaster zone!lol
I got to get busy, hope it's a beautiful day where ever you are!
Just when I think, I couldn't be any more disgusted with commercial food practices They think of something new!
http://www.greenprophet.com/2011/03/meat-glue-frankenstein-mea/
Hi guys! I sure have been busy.
The seed swap was a bit disappointing because the weather turned off cold, rainy and windy. But I still had about 10 folks show up and we had a good time swapping. Already planning a seed and plant swap for fall. I took my seed box to church on Sunday and swapped seeds with some people who couldn't brave the weather the day before.
I seeded a mixed tray of peppers, eggplant and tomatoes. They are already coming up. I won't need them all because I only have 30 square feet in my garden and a few containers. I will give away the extras or I might be able to sit on the swing at the little store and sell them.
I got 6 tater bags planted yesterday, 3 pontiacs and 3 kennibecs (sp?). Got lots more to plant. A friend gave me the kennibecs.
Layed out the new strawberry bed for the 50 plants another friend gave me. It's only about 18" wide and maybe 10' long. Not enough but I ran out of pavers. I used 3 feed sacks to line the bottom of the bed. They are paper sacks with plastic lining so I shouldn't have any weed problems. Now I just have to fill it and plant the berries.
When I was laying out the bed, I had to move a small Japanese Wineberry bush that was in the way. I didn't want to lose it so I transplanted it to the end of the golden raspberry row. A friend gave me about 10 of the GRs. All but 1 are leafing out and looking great.
I had planted lettuce in the top of my 2 hay bales but it never came up so I transplanted 6 purple sprouting broccoli plants to the bales from my winter sow jugs.
My sugar snap peas are up pretty good and I have to get the few out of the winter sow jug and put them in the barrel with the others.
Every sweet onion and every hardneck garlic I planted are up and looking good. The elephant garlic is not up yet.
Carrots, broccoli raab, chinese cabbage and osaka purple mustard are not up yet.
Lost a couple hens and put the blind rooster down. Got the big roo in a tub on the porch ready to kill this week. Got another hen in a small cage on the porch. She was nearly eaten alive by the older layers. Saphire hatched out 3 bantam chicks and I have 6 golden comet pullet chicks and 6 EE pullet chicks in brooders.
So glad to read everybody's good news and progress. Life goes merrily on!
This is my friend, Jovita. She is a new gardener who came out for the swap.
Cajun. 10 wasn't too bad for your first seed swap.
I've been busy planting in the garden. Al has almost half of it tilled for me. At this point, it looks almost never-ending, but my planting list is definitely getting shorter.
Hi Jovita! Hi Cajun ~ glad you are all right and had a good turn out for your seed swap. I would bet it will grow in interest. It does sound like spring has hit in your area with all your gardening projects.
Cocoa_Lulu ~ after reading about the glue and the chicken mcnuggets, perhaps your boys were right about McDs ~ lol Yuk on the glue ~
Do not overdo it with your back feeling better on the meds. Do let it mend. Haven't hurt mine lately and cringed when I read that.
MsRobin ~ glad the gardening is going for you and hope you are feeling better. I agree with your choice of what goes in the pantry. Quick and easy as we are usually inconvenienced when we need it anyway and comfort food is simply reassuring.
Darius ~ hope you are able to shake the chest congestion as easily as your ride got remedied. I have been immersed reading thru your blog and must admit, I admire your skill, talent and knowledge. I marvel at your ability to deal with the different challenges you face and the skill to pursue your passions. When you learn to crank out money, please let us know. We could all use a dose. :8 )
NikB ~ when Darius mentioned reading that book, it sounded interesting enough to read. Even from bad, one can glean lessons. As DH says, you can even learn from those you don't like ~ you learn what not to do/be. I am a tolerant person and say to each their own. The world would be a boring place if we all did, had or liked the same things. Diversity is what makes life interesting and everyone on this thread is interesting in their own way..
Anyone heard from AzGrammie? Wondering how her lavender grows.
I read that not all sugars are equally sweet, has anyone heard this before? http://smittenkitchen.com/tips/not-all-salts-are-created-equally/
My project for this weekend is a snake safari. It would seem one has taken up residence in the GH. I won't be able to take a nap on the church pew till I extract him.
Planting lots of stuff in ground this weekend too but that snake has got to go!
Cando1 ~ glad to see you lurking and posting here. We have more hispanics here and I can find many of the large quantities of spices, seasonings and boullions in the regular grocery store here. They used to be less expensive but not anymore. I used to buy a quart of vanilla for two bucks but then, there is nothing cheap these days.
A visitor to my front door.
Good Morning... I'm up and moving, but moving slowly. Lucky me, I got to spend most of yesterday in the ER where they decided I have Bronchial Pneumonia, but not severe enough to keep me in the hospital. I hated the breathing treatment they gave me... the combo of those drugs in it always make my system race for quite a long time afterward. (Actually I'm surprised they sent me home with the low Sat. O2 even after the breathing treatment.) I do, however, have to see a Pulmonologist and get on that wagon again. Yuck.
We have 4 pharmacies in this town, and only one is open after 6pm on Saturdays. My prescription plan wouldn't pay for one of the 4 meds they prescribed, nor did I have enough money. Fortunately it wasn't the antibiotic! One they did pay for is one I probably won't take, a steroid.
Y'know, we all read about the mistakes hospitals make. Here's one: I was an extra-long time in the ER yesterday, because the ER doc looked at the chart from my last visit there in 2009. That chest x-ray was read by the ER doc and again a day later by a Radiologist who made a note that my aortic arch had a "squiggle" on it that could be an aneurysm and should be looked at again, closely. Of course, NO ONE ever notified me, and an aneurysm could be fatal! Anyway, this led to additional tests yesterday, including a CT Scan. Fortunately I have no aneurysm! It appears the "squiggle" may have just been an anomaly or slight movement on that old chest x-ray.
Pod, I'm glad you are enjoying my blog enough to dink around in it. I know it's a mishmash of all kinds of stuff, but so is my mind!
I knew that bit about all salts not being equal, but only learned it 2 years ago when I first read Ruhlman's book on charcuterie. Since salt is used as a preservative, you want enough salt to be safe, but not enough to ruin the taste later. All the better (and safer) books on meat curing stress to weigh salt, not measure by volume, because of the differences. It makes a difference in cheesemaking too but isn't stressed as much for noobies as it should be.
Hate that you are sick. Glad it's no worse but bad enough. DH has had a scare with the possibility of an aneurisim. They also told him tests showed his heart was "plumbed" backwards. Turns out it is "plumbed" correctly but the aorta, which is larger than it should be, takes a different route when it leaves the heart. Also found out that his throat and his ear canal are much smaller that they should be. So wierd.
I enjoy your blog too. I find it all very interesting but lots of it is way out of my league. I really liked the stuff on cold smoking.
Pod, what kind of snake is in your GH?
Cajun ~ I'm not sure on the snake. It is about a foot long, 3/4 inch diameter. Its' markings were murky when I saw it ~ the cats pointed it out to me and it was trying to stay out of their reach. I couldn't see the head well enough to ID it. It might be an immature rat / chicken snake or maybe a small water moccasin. Not to worry, I am more wary than my cats. And it is their fault the snake moved in. I'd left a door propped so they could get out if I accidently closed them in. They probably herded that legless buddy in there. lol
I will be moving everything out and need to get some plastic lidded containers for the different fertilizers and soils to be stored in. Hate the thought of reaching into that black bag of black potting soil. {{{snake!}}} Anyway, I need to do that early morning as we just got home and it is 105° in there. Where the heck did spring go?
Aneurysms are not to be taken lightly. In 2000, DH had a major (60 mm) ascending aortic aneurysm. They did not want to operate due to other health issues but he had good insurance so they kept him in ICU for 4 weeks and monitored it till it ruptured. They then operated and he is still amongst the living. I suspect with the insurance carrying the tab, they considered it an experiment. Fortunate for him.
At that time, we found a local drugstore than I am loathe to leave. When I don't have money, they charge and bill us. When we would get in from the Houston hospital after their hours, I'd call and they would meet me up there to fill prescriptions. When I can't get away from work to pick up meds, they will deliver. When we needed to select a drug supplement insurance, I shopped for prices on meds and found them to be competitive in price. I really do appreciate them.
Darius ~ does more traffic generate any blog income for you? I have passed links on to friends that are interested in specific things. Wish that would be beneficial.
This message was edited Apr 10, 2011 2:49 PM
Pod, unfortunately for my pocketbook, my blog generates no income. I view my blog as paying forward all for those things others have taught me over the last 70 years.
I choose not to have any advertising on my blog even though it might generate a small amount of income... I hate seeing ads everywhere and especially for products I won't buy. I do have occasional live links to books on Amazon and if anyone bought one of those books from my link, I'd earn about 10-15¢, depending on the book.
I've had offers of swag for ads but I'm not going there either! IF I ever do take ads, it will only be for a very few products I actually believe in, but I'd have to do the leg work to set them up myself rather than use an ad service like GoogleAds, who take most of the revenue as their income anyway.
Thanks for the thought, and of course for sending readers my way! I'm now getting over 3,000 hits a month, and considering there are several million blogs, I think that's pretty decent. I seem to have a loyal following too, but with those who use the RSS feed, I never see the numbers since they don't actually 'visit' the blog.
I did know that about salt, Pod. But then, I live in Grand Saline. You pick up an odd salt fact or two over the years :0) I wonder if I'd kicked out of town if I admitted Morton's is not my favorite.lol
Ok, ladies keep those snakes to yourselves! I have a tree frog that has taken up residence in my makeshift GH. He's quite the character, and the reptile of choice for conversing with...then Podster's turtles would tell a different story
;0)
Hope you get on the mend soon, Darius! I agree, love the blog. Haven't had much reading time as late, but blogs really help me thu the winter doldrums. I can ease your mind on one blog query you posted. My SIL is an R&D biologist for Dannon. I can assure you, they have not cut cultures in their yogurts...and no, I do not get any compensation for saying that :0)
Hmmm... isn't it? LOL I like tree frogs, toads (when they don't get in my seedling pots), lizards, etc. but always think of them as food for snakes. Always on alert here... 8 0
Hey pod, are we going to get any of that rain in the morning?
If you don't want any .... I'll take your share. LOL
Prayers and fingers crossed here on the rain. The last 1/2 inch we got filled up both my empty rain barrels with the new gutters. The pollen washed off the roof has made the water smell raunchy but it works for watering plants. This afternoon I watered plants from it and it is now half empty. Think I got too many plants that need watering... (((as I shake my head)))!
How about you? How is your well holding up? And business? We walked out a Nacogdoches flea market today and lots of folks selling flowers but darn few folks were buying. I suspect there isn't much extra money for luxuries.
I just went to the weather site and don't think you want me to share...
Rest of Tonight
Increasing clouds with a 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after midnight. Some thunderstorms may produce damaging winds and large hail after midnight.
That would be insulting after being whupped with wind all day today. lol
Got near 90 today but no rain or hail. It was a very good day here.
Jay is home!!
It was mid-high 80s here Sunday, but the wind was blowing all freakin' day long. Too rough for kites. Got a bit of mowing done, though. And made a couple loaves of sourdough oat bread. Went scrapping with a friend this morning, now I'm waiting on my money so I can go get my new tractor.