Shots On The Farm

The girls went out with their cameras' and took a few shots around the homestead.  I thought I'd share them with y'all.  The ducks are a recent addition and quite fun to have around.

Family Night With Pizza And A Movie

Tonight is one of my favorite nights of the week-and no, it's not because it's Friday.  Well, maybe partly, it is pizza night and family movie night!  The pizza is homemade and awesome!  The movies aren't always awesome but they are fun and it's nice to relax with the fam.  This is how frugal people spend time together.  Frankly, I think it is a much more wholesome time together with much more interaction.

We have been doing this for at least 12 years.  I can't imagine what life would be like without movie/pizza night.  What do you do in your home to spend time together?

Chick-Chick-chicken Time!

It is the time of year that we should be ordering our broiler chickens.  I have to be honest here-my heart does not seem to be into raising these chickens.  Oh we're going to do it, but I, kinda, don't want to.  I think I'm getting lazy in my old age.

Joking aside, what really has me bumfuzled is the cost of feed.  We sell many of the birds, keeping enough for ourselves, but it is getting harder to turn a profit.  We buy a ton of feed at a time, supplemented with grass in chicken tractors.  Last year, when I went to buy feed it cost $400 for a ton.  It's still cheaper using our custom mix than buying Purina junk, so it worked out, but I haven't checked on the price of things yet-so I'm dreading it.

In the end, I need to quit lollygagging and get the order in for the birds.  No matter what, they are still the best tasting, best for you chickens around.

The Benefits Of Raw Milk-Revisited

Here is an article I found in my favorites list that I had totally forgotten about.  It is about the benefits of drinking raw milk, as we do from our own cow.  Good stuff.  Use the link and give the article a good read, it is very informative.

The USDuh Proposes Another Animal I.D. Tracking System

Here we go again, another "traceability" proposal from the USDuh.  Look, all I want is smaller government, I really don't care that other countries buy meat from the USA.  It is just another means of taxation.  Read more here...

Asparagus On The Grill

Ever had Asparagus on the grill?  Try it, it is delicious.  I did it yesterday for the first time on the grill.  We all love asparagus but never done this way-crazy, huh?  Just wrap the asparagus (from our garden) in tin foil along with a clove of garlic (chopped up) and butter.  Put it on the grill and let it steam until tender.  Very tasty.

I am not too good at veggies on the grill, so give me some ideas.

Orthorexia-If You Like Healthy, Organic Real Food, You Need To See A Shrink

Apparently, there are psych "experts" out there that say that if you like real, whole, non-GMO, non-pesticide laced, no chemicals, no hormones, no antibiotic food then you must be sick.  And eating processed foods that contain all those things aforementioned is normal.  What next?  Read more here...

Is It Safe To Eat If The Government Says So?

"The FDA and USDA say the engineered foods they’ve approved are safe — so safe they don’t even need to be labeled as such — and can’t be significantly distinguished from conventional varieties."  And how long have they studied this to have come to this conclusion?  I agree with this statement, but would add that if you mess with God, there are going to be side effects:

“If you mess with nature, there’s a side effect somewhere,” said George Siemon, CEO of Organic Valley, the nation’s largest organic-farming cooperative.


Read more...

Local Ag Is Getting More Popular

There is growing support for local, small time farmers/homesteaders and according to Alan Nation's blog, and Forbes magazine, it will keep getting better.  Below is an excerpt from Alan's article.  You can read the full text by using the link above.  I can attest that more and more people are getting concerned about the food they eat, and rightly so.  Just remember, eating this good, wholesome, local food seems to have become a priveledge and we now have to fight to keep that right.  The right to eat what we want.

"A group of futurist experts and authors convened by the politically conservative business magazine Forbes have predicted that by 2018, only eight years from now, 20 percent of the food eaten in major urban areas of the USA will be grown adjacent to or in the city itself."

Birds, The Natural Pesticide

This is a great article about an important natural pesticide that was common not too long ago.  Birds are a great tick and fly killer, and one of the most wonderful sights in the world is to see birds in the pasture right next to the cattle.  God created things in a perfect way with a specific purpose, yet mankind always seems to think he has a better way than God's.  The attached article shows an example of farmers in Africa that have seen the light, as it were, and have moved back to nature as it should be.  Although the story is in Africa, I think there is a lesson for all of us homestead types that want to escape the use of chemicals and raise our own food in a healthy, natural, wonderful, happy way.  How do you think this article can benefit you and your homestead?

Pigs Prefer White Clover

Who says pigs don't eat grass?  A new study shows that pigs not only eat grass, but have preferences.  Raising pigs on pasture is the best way to allow a pig to be a pig, not only is this a healthy way of feeding them but very cost effective as well.  Read more here...

Grass Fed Beef, Argentina tyle

Here is a neat article that takes a look at Anibal Pordomingo's ranch and opperation in Argentina.  I have read many of his articles in the past and he really knows grass farming and grass fed beef.  I know many of us are not as big as he is, but I think we can still learn from his practices.  One thing we do have in common is that, like many of us, he works a job outside the ranch.  How do you balance your full time job and manage your homestead/farm at the same time?

New Study Shows Grass Silage Better Than Hay For Milk Production

I don't say this about Europe and Europeans, in general, but when it comes to agriculture they've got one on us.  In fact, they understand the culture of agriculture as opposed to the USA wher the culture has given way to agribusiness-you know, farmers in three piece suits.  Once again, French researchers have dicovered something that the agriBUSINESS of the US will, probably ignore.  But, for your sake as a homesteader/small farmer, you may consider swithching to grass silage instead of hay, especially if you keep a milk cow.  Read more here...

Preparedness Food

If you are like us, you care about the food your family eats.  It is not enough anymore to go to the grocery store and pick out fresh fuits and veggies.  The soil has been strip mind so badly that it takes much more food to get the same amount of nutrition from less food 100 years ago.  Not only that, the pesticides and herbicides that are sprayed on the food in the field can be dangerous.  All corn grown in the USA is Round-Up ready.  That means farmers can spray an exobitant amount of Roun-Up directly on the corn without effecting the vegetable itself.  I don't even want to get into GMO foods.

One of the key elements to preparedness is learning to be self reliant.  In other words, you might not want to depend on the government food pyramid to suggest what is good food and in what amounts.  Preparedness minded people, in general, have a certain amount of distrust toward the government, that is why they prepare.  We can't always depend on government agencies to come to our rescue.  It has been proven several times in the last few years what happens when we wait for rescue.

With this in mind, take a look at ways that you can provide food for yourselves.  Be creative, thinking outside the box.  If you live in the city, consider container growing.  If oyu live in the country, plant a garden.  If you can, get some livestock that can produce food on a continual basis, like a family milk cow.  As a side benefit, you will be providing good, real food for your family.  The primary benefit is, if disaster strikes, you know your family can eat.

This is a good website that can give you some great ideas and help get you started, if you haven't already.  If you already do some of these things, it is good to gather more information and try something new.  Have fun.

Five Acres And Sustainability

Over the next few weeks, done on a peridic basis, I will explore the idea of small acreage and how to be sustainable.  Not that I am an expert on anything, but we are working toward this end, ourselves.  We are doing this for several reasons, but the top two are the fact that the government and current political climate leaves nothing to chance and the stewardship of God's land.

With this in mind, I have to believe that there are folks out there that are where we aere 12 years ago.  They might be concerned about the state of things, or just want to live a healthier life eating real, whole foods.  Again, I am no expert, but, over the next several weeks/months, I will share some ideas, pictures, anecdotes and general things we have done.  This effort will, I hope, inspire others to a life more sustainable on small acreage.

With that in mind, I want to refer you to an old article I wrote on sustainability to give you a good understanding of what I am refering to.  One thing is for sure, you can grow crops and much of your own food on a small amount of land.  I would argue that you can do a bunch, even in the city (of course, I would get out of the city, if you can).

I look forward to sharing ideas with you and hearing from you.  Come back often and enjoy your visit.

Square Foot Garden Construction

Fresh, The Movie

If you haven't already, you need to see this movie.  Here is a teaser.

More On Square Foot Gardening

No Snow, But Did Build Some Garden Boxes

Well the snow never came but the rain sure did.  I understand that even Dallas got several inches, yet, we didn't-darn. 

We decided to just go on with the day, yesterday, even though the impending doom of snow was coming.  We went strait to work on some things that needed done.  I built three new garden boxes for gardening the square foot way.  It was simple enough.  There are two smaller boxes for the girls to have for their own.  I forget what they plan to grow, but they are excited to start.  I am excited to see what they can produce. 

I then made a box for my wife.  They were placed out in the garden area with weed barrier under them.  I still have to fill them.  Of course you know, that we garden with raised beds, anyway.  Until now, we used concrete, mason blocks for the beds.  As the price of these went through the roof, we switched to un-treated lumber.  We don't want the chemicals from treated lumber, so, we just plan on replacing them every few years.  We will start with the one, in addition to all the other beds that already exist.

After I made that box, we went out to prune our fruit trees.  I tell you that accomplishment feels good.  We have never pruned our fruit trees, knowing that it has to be done.  Now it is done, for this year and we are thankful for that.

I then set in to make the square foot grids that fir over the gardens.  These help determine, exactly, where to plant.  They sit right on top of the edges of the beds.

I then attempted to straiten out the tacoed wheel on my daughters bike.  As an old bike mechanic, I found this one to be a challenge and needed to step back and re-think it.  She didn't taco the wheel, we bought it from a thrift store and it came that way.  We may have to buy a new wheel.

Here are some pictures of what we built.

To the right are three potato boxes.  Simply fill them with dirt and add another when the greens come out.  This method should make harvest very simple by taking off each box and picking up the potatoes.  Below, are the same boxes, unstacked.  They are one foot square, usind 1x8 lumber simply screwed together.

This is a shot of the beginning stages of the grids.  We used lath boards in 4 foot lengths.  We then stapled them together in one foot squares.

This is a shot of one of the grids on the 4x4 box I made for my wife.  The lumber was 1x6 and screwed together to form a 4x4 box.

This picture shows some of the grids placed on the existing raised beds.  We are going to apply the square foot method to all of the gardens.  Now for some warmer weather....

Still Slow On The Homestead

Things are still pretty slow around the homestead.  We were awaiting to order broiler chicks, but found out we don't have to wait now.  We have taken orders for this spring batch and are looking forward to that.  I have been thinking on how to deliver water inside the tractors better.  I may have a solution, but it will be dificult as the chicken tractors are made of PVC.  It is one of the draw backs of the pipe design that it is hard to build anything onto them.  They have a wooden base, so that is a place to start.

My plan is to build a platform on the back of the tractor to set a bucket on.  From there, I can hang a bell waterer inside the tractor and, hopefully, gravity will take over.

My beautiful wife will be speaking at an herb gardening club tomorrow.  She was invited to do this last fall and she has been planing it since.  She will be promoting Fertrell and selling some salves and tinctures she has made.  I think she is a bit nervous, but she will do fine.

Plans are also in the works for additional fence and a re-stocking.  We are looking at a couple of pigs for the freezer and some beef to fatten on grass, utilizing some mob grazing techniques I have learned.  Lots to do and very little time.

In keeping with out preparedness plans, we bought a new safe.  We really like it and if you don't have one, get one.  You will need to keep your firearms out of the hands of evil doers.

That is all, for now.  We are all just looking forward to warmer weather and the flea market.  Until next time...