Becky Wiese

Primary reason for lawnmower alternatives is because we don’t like mowing. Time and expense we’d be happy to spend elsewhere. And if we could benefit by it (dairy goat or cute tortoise or more fodder for the cows or goose eggs, etc.), that would be a plus.

As best as I can figure using Google Maps, the section that we would fence would be about 2.5 acres, perhaps an acre or so with grass/lawn.

Does anyone have a good lawnmower alternative?
I’ve considered:
• Sheep or goats. While this would be lovely, it would also require a guard dog and I’m not sure if I’d be willing to go that far. I couldn’t just pen them at night, right? I would imagine goat predators would attack them all day long. Also would need to fence for sheep or goats, but that’s doable.
• Tortoise. Had a guy recently who had a huge tortoise that he joked took care of his mowing needs. Would, again, need to fence better. Not sure how well tortoises take care of grass? Not sure how well they would do against predators? Fox? Stray dogs? Mountain lion (rare, but they have been seen)?
• Geese. Would be fun, but how much protection do they need against predators? And how well do they actually keep lawns down?
• Rabbit tractor. Again, how well do they actually do keeping lawns down, if moved daily?
• Cows. Last place option, but I'll throw it out there. We could put the cows in our yard for brief periods. We'd again have to improve the fences, but has anyone used cows for keeping grass down around the house? Does it actually work or just create a mess?

I've heard that sunflowers can make good chicken feed.

We get a lot of wild sunflowers. They're big, huge stalks and flowers. I think I tried tossing them in with the chickens last year. They weren't much impressed.

How do people feed sunflowers? Do you cut it up? Do you just feed the flower or the whole stalk? Does it have to be a special type of sunflower? Can you dry them and store them?

Any suggestions for making this a good cost-cutting endeavor?

Thanks!
Becky

Hello!

Not really sure if this should go in hunting or pets or food preservation, but we are looking for ways to save money on dog food.

We are trapping and killing wild hogs, as we are able, to keep them from destroying our crop fields.

We would like to be able to use this for dog food. Maybe not 100% all hog meat, but every little bit helps and I think it's a lot healthier than dog food. In our area, if you kill wild hogs, it's unlikely they'll be around the trap again for many, many months. So it's not like I can just go out and butcher a hog every time I run out of hog meat. Most likely, I would have a glut of hog meat and then a scarcity.

I could grind the meat and freeze it, but with two dogs, it's a lot of meat and I don't have than much freezer space.

I'm trying to think of other ways of preserving the meat. I have a dehydrator, but it's a small model, so again, won't go very far. I'd love a smoker, but I don't have one.

Curious if anyone has tackled this problem and has any suggestions?

Hello!

I have been reading lots about chicken paddock systems. Started down the rabbit hole with this fantastic article posted by a permie member: https://richsoil.com/raising-chickens.jsp

Does anyone have any estimates on how many square feet per chicken per day for a paddock system? Obviously we don't want to destroy the grass. I'd prefer a longer timeframe in each paddock--2-4 weeks over 1 week, but that depends on the size of the paddock and vegetation. But it would be really helpful to have an estimate to begin with.

Thanks!

Hello!

I am looking into new streams of income for our ranch and one thing I heard of was that selling raw pet food may be lucrative. I have several questions some people here may be able to answer.

1. Are there different regulations for processing meat for pet food vs human consumption? Looking at the laws, I'm thinking not, but maybe...

2. Has anyone successfully applied for the poultry/rabbit exemption? Looks easy enough, but I've heard some sources say that an approved SSOP would require very costly facilities. So curious if anyone knows anyone who's been successful with this. https://www.dshs.texas.gov/meat-safety/inspections-exemptions-meat-safety/information-about-registration-poultry

3. Does anyone know where you can sell poultry and rabbit if you successfully get this exemption? It just says: "intended to be sold through locations other than the farm where the livestock is produced". But I thought I'd seen somewhere, some time ago, that it couldn't be sold, say, for restaurant use.

4. Does anyone sell homemade pet food? Does anyone process animals for pet food for sale? I would love to chat with someone doing this.

5. A little more off-topic, but I keep thinking squab may be a profitable crop, if I can build up a market. Has anyone had financial success with squab?

Thanks!

Hello!

We are thinking of moving in a few years to an even more rural, off grid place. In the meantime, we are looking at our home and thinking of what we might do to add value to it. I'm thinking if we work towards appealing to a specific population (such as permaculturists), it might sell better.

Currently, we have a few hundred acres in Texas with a one-bedroom home, a couple sheds/shop. Barb wire fenced for cows.

If you were looking for a future homestead, what features would make you say, "I want to see this place and find out more?" What would make you more likely to purchase it?

Home: Would a larger home plus a small mother-in-law home be valuable? What features are you looking for in a house? (# of bedrooms, insulation, storage, etc.). What about outbuildings, sheds, shops?

Land: What features would you be looking for in the land? Specific features of tanks/ponds? Specific features of gardens? Animal housing/fencing? Perennial trees?

Obviously we'd all love the perfect place from the get-go, but what are the few features that would really call you to in a potential piece of real estate? It can be little things (like a purple martin house) or big things (like a 3-bedroom house).

Thank you!

Stephen, no Kanopy. Again, we're a very poor library. We cannot afford streaming to offer to our patrons. Good idea, though!

Thanks, Anne!

I don’t think a podcast would work for a library program. I think we need that visual.

I’ve seen the links to a variety of how-to videos. They look interesting to me, but I can’t purchase them all to see what would be good, so that’s why I’m asking for recommendations.

Also, looking for that “specific-but-not-too-specific” category. Anything like homesteading, raising chickens, etc., would obviously only appeal to a certain subset of the population. But hopefully enough that we’d get a few dozen at a program. Something like building a rocket heater… might not be broad enough appeal, especially at first. Maybe if we build up that audience.

I’d love to hear if you have any specific recommendations for such a situation.

Hello!

I run a non-profit library. Our budget is tight and we're trying to do more programs. With a tight budget, we don't have much funds for presenters and don't have a lot of time for staff to prepare either.

I recently had an idea to find videos from various experts on topics that might interest our community. Primarily I'm interested in ones I can purchase (on DVD), but other methods (such as flash drives or watching on YouTube) are fine as well.

I purchased Marjorie Wildcraft's DVD How To Grow Half Your Own Food for this purpose.

I personally have an interest in permaculture and think programs on this would be interesting, but I'm interested in pretty much anything that a group of people might find interesting and want to come to a program. Finances, crafts, skills, dogs, trees, gaming, history, child rearing, etc.

Can you recommend any videos that might make a good program for a library?

Thanks!
Becky

(In case anyone is wondering, I would need to get public usage rights to play it in a library. Which I would reach out to the creator of the video to get before purchasing.)