bruce Fine

I'm doing a bit of experimenting this year. I have plowed up more space then ever before on this property. working into the soil wood ash from the stove and the material cleaned out from the chicken coop.


im not sure how others plant beans, squash and corn together. but im doing a bit of experimenting so far I have put in 2 rows each about 100 feet long. I first made a trough with the hoe and then dropped in corn seed about ever 8 inches or do then I dropped in green bean seeds some right next to the corn then I dropped in squash seeds. in one row corn was a 60 day variety with black beauty zucchini and producer green beans the next row was 75 day corn variety with straight neck yellow squash and the same green beans. then covered the seeds over

the next row is about 150 feet long and I dumped lots of seeds in it this one just green beans and 3 kinds of squash from seeds I dried out from last year including yellow and white scalloped squash and zucchini no corn in this row,. its in a completely different location where last year all the corn there was completely destroyed by wildlife.

do you save seeds year to year? just wondering how long your garden seeds last and how do you store them year to year. I store my extra seeds in metal resealable containers mostly from cookies, crackers and whatever containers I can acquire. this week im planting seeds in the garden some are 8 to 10 years olds some from 2019 and some I saved from squash and cucumbers last year. im not sure if they will all grow but I will try them anyway

to answer your question I guess it depends what your wanting and needing to do.Are you thinking of new equipment or previously owned. The old tractors like ford 8N , 2000, 3000, 4000 series can do a lot of work, have all kinds of 3 point attachments and were built to be very durable and last a long time if cared for and are much lest costly used than a new machine. A 25 hp diesel 4wd tractor with 3 point hitch can be very useful for homesteading. but be mindful that a loader with bucket on many farming tractors are not designed for heavy digging of rocks and dirt.  A 5 to 8 ton mini excavator with an angle able  plow blade and hydraulic thumb can be invaluable for digging  building, road making, lifting and has a fairly low center of gravity and is much less likely of getting in trouble in hilly and uneven terrain compared to a loader/backhoe.
If money were no object the ideal lineup for building a homestead from undeveloped hilly land for me anyway would be a tractor like I described, a mini excavator with blade and thumb and a tracked skid steer and maybe an old dump truck for moving materials around the property.

there are many types of bamboo it grows in many many zones. many years ago I started bamboo with just 1 sprout that I got from big stands of bamboo that I saw while driving by and asked property owner if I could have a sprout. one type grew taller than telephone poles and was 5"-6" thick at the base the other type was a much thinner and smaller type that could be used for a fishing pole  maybe 10-12' tall at max and the larges at the base maybe 1 1/2" I lived in that house from about 1990 to about 2010 there were hundreds of stalks when moved out the big tall stuff there was probably 100 stalks, a very substantial building material, and the smaller variety there were two stands with probably close to 200 stalks in each stand. the soil was poor. just plain old Florida sand and coral rock and after the first year they were never watered.
as your traveling about look for stands of bamboo nearby and ask property owner for a sprout or a few to get it started. dig it up cleanly get all the roots to the sprout you are digging and get it home put it right in the ground and water it in well. that's my experience.

just wondering.
ive been watching Cabin River Outdoors from the beginning on YouTube as this guy is building a homestead in a very remote place from nothing.
I find his weekly videos a total inspiration

Mr. Weeks,
I'm looking forward to what you might find there. From what I understand the grove of American chestnut trees there is legendary  and I'm just guessing here but they are probably naturally blight resistant or they could not have survived to grow to the heights I have seen pictures of.
This time of year probably most all the nuts have been eaten by wildlife but any that fell and naturally sprouted should have leaves popping out in the next few weeks. Ive found with black walnuts anyways that squirrels bury seed, forget about them and before you know it there are new trees where you least expect them

I save all my cans that need a can opener, spinach, soup, tuna, peaches, etc. there are lots of uses for them. for example, holding nails, screws, small parts, anything else that might need a container. for glue and paint and cleaners anything that comes in a big jug and I need to apply it with a brush. pop some holes in the bottom add soil and they make a perfect small pot for starting seeds. put them on the exhaust stack on tractors to keep out the weather. there are lots of uses for tin cans.
I never throw cans away

I drove by a place yesterday that had a giant stack of old glass windows of all shapes and sizes. no time to stop yesterday but, with $1000 I would build a long lasting greenhouse with no plastic anywhere involved.
$200 or even $1000 doesn't go very far these days. just a big dump truck load of crushed rock or stones is about $650 around here. would be nice to have that for greenhouse floor but not necessary as the ground here is mostly very slippery when wet clay.

unfortunately an unknown amount of knowledge though history has been lost?
for example. how exactly were those giant megalithic stones, building blocks, moved? some weighing an estimated 1000 to 1600 tons.

there are so many great ideas on this web site on building on a budget
I made my first ever web site I would like to share FineForCongressTN.com