Kathryn Gagne

Just to put my 2 cents in...  Sain Foin from French into English is Healthy Hay. Cheers!

Our biggest problem here, 48 degrees North, is we have 5-6 ft of snow up until April. In the Summer we rotational graze our animals but that only works for about 3-4 months. We have no way to have portable shelters during Winter so are forced to deep litter in our barn. We use wood chips. Any suggestions anyone? We usually have about 20 chickens, 2 breeder pigs, a Jersey cow and perhaps hopefully soon start a small Highland cattle herd (very cold tolerant but don't think they could maneuver through the deep snow)

Miles Flansburg wrote:Joy, in this thread I have posted a few pictures.

Miles Greenhouse

I grew tomatoes, cukes, pumpkin, sunflowers, and winter greens.

I didn't notice any problems from lack of light as the whole roof was "glazed".

Miles, can you tell me the average snow fall/ load you get in your area for the winter season? We had a total accumulation about 7 feet. Of course we shovel our roofs periodically   .

Thanks for the info! I'll check it out. Free seeds are good even if it is a PR scam. Sorry if I get off topic or a little political here but as a public service...
Don't let General Mills fool you though. If they cared so much about the bees or us they would not use Glyphosate on their grains. Cheerios marketed as "Gluten Free" and "Heart Healthy" contains some of the highest amount of ppb. 1125.3 ppb!!! 0.05 is dangerous. I ate them daily for years. Diagnosed Type 1 Diabetic at 40. They were my favorite and I have been feeding them to my 2 yr old son. Uhg!! I also gave up my OREOs
I am more hell bent than ever to eat only what we can grow. Here is a video from Glyphosate News. A full article can be found at NaturalNews.com

http://www.naturalnews.com/2017-03-06-brand-name-processed-foods-found-laced-with-glyphosate-weed-killer.html

This year I am going to use my shredded leaf mold compost and sprinkle worm castings on top from our worm farm. As we have no money and are far away from civilization I am hoping for the best. This is also our first year starting our own plants. We cannot plant until about the second week in June. Right now we still have anywhere from 3-6 ft of snow on our land. I got the idea from Mark at I AM ORGANIC GARDENING on YouTube

Colin McGee wrote:Someone mentioned sterilizing soil in the microwave or boiling it. Doesn't that leach out all the nutrients?

I understood the only reason purchased "soil" is sterilized as not to commercially transfer disease or bugs. Anyone else know more than me (which isn't hard since I am a novice gardener).

Ok so he wasn't exactly dropped. The farmer who brought my Tamworth her new boyfriend tonight also had with him a week old beef calf. My husband was handling the transaction because I do not speak french yet lol. Anyhoo, before I knew it I was holding our 18 month old son in one hand and a rope attached to a calf in the other! Granted we don't even have a shed built yet but this is beside the point as he is resting comfortably on our side porch (the calf not the baby).  I didn't have milk to give him tonight but I did have powdered baby formula. I mixed 3 liters with 2 eggs beaten in and he gratefully guzzled it down out of a bucket from between my knees while sucking on my fingers. Will the formula hurt him? Does it have too much sugar? I also gave him a full bucket a water in his "pen". What should we get him in the morning? I read a little about concentrate. I am currently on the look out for scours. We are newbies trying to do our best. We will get a weigh in on him in the morning. He looks awful skinny to me. I only have had experience with dairy cows. Please help. Thanks so much.

Hi check out the permie who was a permie before the term was created. Jean Pain. He and his wife Ida wrote the book "Another Kind of Garden" Great Stuff! I'm sure you could find a solution in here. He is my new hero. best wishes from the Gagne Homestead
http://library.uniteddiversity.coop/Permaculture/Another_Kind_of_Garden-The_Methods_of_Jean_Pain.pdf

My hubby and I are getting our first dairy cow in about a month. We also will have 50 chickens arriving in a week. How do you all store your grains and how much do you purchase a time? We are on a limited budget so are looking for creative, economical solutions. The animals will be mainly pastured Salitin style. Thanks for any help!!!