R Grier

Ron Kulas wrote:Ive been searching my fool head off for ANY info so substance and tests done of an actual scientific bases to let me know if I should take the time to try electroculture and to date I can find no proof its worth the time. I can find lots of youtube stuff that I watched but cant trust after seeing how the "test" or trial was conducted.

Everything in my decades of engineering tells me this will offer no increase in yields or growth but I dont claim to know it all so I continue to search for answers.

I have yet to try it, so im not sure. I also haven't found a significant amount of supportive research. HOWEVER, I have found good techniques and information smothered too often in the past for this to stop me. It also just makes sence! We know copper coils like this do in fact generate low.level electric current, thats actually measurable. We also know that high level electrical current drawn from the atmosphere (most often in the form of lightning stikes) do in fact drastically increase the bound nitrogen in the soil. Both of these are well established and measurable facts. The final question is really, does the low level current created by these coils actually create enough bound nitrogen to benefit the plants? This seemingly simple question would actually be very hard to measure. It would depend on the soil and existing nitrogen levels, the atmospheric conditions, the microorganisms present, the plant type, the gauge and resistance of the copper wire, the spiral pattern/repetitions, the local magnetic field... and I dare say a slew of other factors. One thing seems highly likely to me though, which is that it seems like it could only help not hurt.

Mike Haasl wrote:I pick with an extendible fruit picker.  Mine extends 13' so I can get stuff about 18' off the ground.  It's slow though and a hell of a shoulder workout.  Keep the bucket 13' away from you on the ground so when you fill the basket you can lower it down to the bucket and let the fruit tumble out.  It works fine for homestead scale harvesting but wouldn't work for a market garden or farm.

Nice! This. I rigged one from "trash".  I attached an old broom handle to a cut open juice jug. I used the nozzle for attachment, and cut a hole in the side of the "bottom" end of the jug. The original bottom, and sides, acts as a cap you can hook over the fruit top to give it a tug! You definitely want the hole at least 2x the size of your fruit, and you want to smooth/cover the sharp edges. I use a small step stool to get a bit further, making my reach about 15ft up the tree. Hurts the shoulders after a while but I can do 1 smaller tree a day like this at least. I have only used it on persimmon trees though.

I don't enjoy the culling part, but i still fi d it a worthwhile part of the process. We don't cull our males at birth though, even though i have mostly autosexing (i cross a solid colored roo against a barred rock). We want the life to have fulfilled a use, like feeding our family. The amount of my garden they eat can be frustrating, but i know they are eating that rather than lower quality food we would have to buy so I'm happy.

Katrin Kerns wrote:

Kellic Cantrell wrote:Its rather sad to think that their really exist people that clueless about something that use to be common knowledge. If you've ever cared for any kind of animal before you should know that all animals need some care from humans if they are kept in artificial or contained environment.

You would be surprised at how many people are really that clueless about raising or caring for animals in general. Ask your local pet store about "Easter Bunny" stories.

Lots of clueless folks think it would be fun to buy their kids pet rabbits as an Easter present, but they don't research rabbits or just exactly what it takes to properly raise one. Many of them try to return the rabbits to the pet stores once their kids get tired of trying to take care of them, or they get sick from improper care and feeding. Failing being able to return them many of those folks just release them into the wild thinking that they should do just fine. But domestic rabbits do not have the proper instincts for survival in the wild. Most rabbits that are released into the wild die within a few days due to being hit by cars, killed by predators, or simply due to exposure.

The ones that do actually survive become a problem because they dig burrows near people's homes and eat garden plants because they are not as wary of humans as actual wild rabbits. It's generally a bad situation all around.

The number of Adults I have had to inform that "chicken" is a species, not a gender, is shocking.  Very few know that the chickens they get at the grocery store are GMO monsters that would have almost certainly died from over growth before adulthood and so were killed at only about 2 months old....

My problem isn't really from clueless people, as it is people who jump into major projects involving other lives without doing their research first.

Of course... here i am thinking "i learned my lesson with 400lbs of butternut last year, only a few of those! Let's plant mass beans instead...." here i am at 20lbs of green beans and we have been eating them for weeks.... so maybe I should research too!

Do we have to pluck or is skinning alright? We tend to have younger birds, so the skin comes off very easily and there isn't much fat on the skin anyway.

I LOVE Dorkings! They lay all winter. They don't need extra light and are winter hardy   They prefer foraging and are expert, gladly eating 100% from what they can find or catch. They are good dual purpose oth a great table meat.  They are amazing brooder and mothers. They are rarely aggressive, even the roos. They also still lay around 200 eggs a year (pretty good for dual purpose), but best of all will keep doing that for about 4 years before they start dropping off!

I put gravel about a foot deep around the foot,with occasional sharp corogtated metal with large rocks on top! They don't like digging in gravel, and it takes longer and slows them down. Then when they get to the large rock its too heavy, and when they try to pull the metal out it hurts their hands! Then I shove the gravel back in the next morning. They gave up afte 3 days. I didnt have the money or time for all that you did... that was alot of money and work! I hope your problems go away now though.

I think 1 year is about the normal time in my experience for the rooster to go from low on the pecking order to mean, that seems to be the point they are tired of the nonsense of being ignored and start trying to assert themselves. On the other hand a roo who was respected pretty early on by the hens seems to have less problems adjusting as he gets older, and be less likely to cause human problems.
The next time you have one you might try raising him somewhat separated, then removing the head hen into isolation for a few weeks when he is integrated. The other hens will be more receptive to a new leader,  and when she comes back he will already be somewhat established. Of course, all that depenson getting one who is respectful of people by 8-10 months too, which sometimes really seems like a roll of the dice. Once you have the first good one he will help raise future ones to be good too. You could also ask a neighbor or friend to "borrow" their good rooster after you get some chicks to help increase the chances.
  Our rooster is amazing. We keep a big flock, so having a few roosters is good. The young ones either learn to respect Him, thus earning a place, respecting us (he teaches that too) and eventually getting their own hens, or they reject him and go to "freezer camp". The last mean one was exactly as you described, low on the pole, never agressive, kind of shy and sweet. Then around a year he started getting into fights and then finally tried to spur our daughter. (We have a 0 tolerance policy) He earned his execution, but our daughter was fine and didnt even know (i witnessed it) because our good adult roo flew in from the side and intercepted him, knocking him out of the air and standing over him, between the young one and our daughter. So for context, good roosters do exist! He has now raised 2 further good rooster generations as well, who are technically not even related to him so its not genetics.

I thoroughly agree with all of your points. Also, as a woman and mother I can completely agree that a lack of women speakers isn't you being sexist.. it's just that any woman who is interested and knowledgeable in the subject is probably not one who has the type of personality to stand out there and face all that hate a criticism, and devote her everything to it like would be needed. It is simply outside of the nature of women. Not sexist, just natural.
I for one have believed firmly in most the concepts for years, but only recently found the cite and terms ect. I find things I have been doing for years, or things that I consider "common sence" mixed in with innovative ideas and old fashioned know-how!
I am thoroughly impressed, and will probably be adapting much of what I find here as well as teaching our kids. But would I be willing to take the time away from my kids, husband, and homestead that It would take to become a "voice"? Not a chance! There are others, most likely men, which would be far better fits to the role than I, and the cost in my time and priorities would be too high.

Also I found your list of cringe phrases both amusing and spot on. As a "science" Nerd i have been long annoyed by the phrase "its just science" or how the very term "scientific research" has become synonyms for "absolute truth". That is not what science means, nor is it usually true. A true scientist is constantly refining and redefining their understanding.

Jay Wright wrote:Tiger Pear, hands down. Opuntia Aurantiaca. Can grow into big clumps, lots of cylindrical sections covered in vicious spines which can hook onto anything- hit it with the side of an axe head and pieces will snap off and cling to the steel! It grows in any type of soil or landscape and is often the colour of the surrounding dirt. If you get it in you you need pliers to get it off. We had a sheep dog jump a fence and land on a clump of it. Yelped in pain and sat down to try to bite it out of his feet- got it stuck all over his butt as well as in and around his mouth. Took two men to hold him down while a third spent ages trying to get the spines out. I hate the stuff- and I'd love to meet the idiot who introduced it here in Australia.

I wonder if this is similar to "prickly pear" we have here? Small cactus able to grow in wet conditions with obvious cactus spines, and less obvious hair sized spines and is supposedly edible if you care to wear thick gloves and remove all the skin and rpicka from the pad or fruit.  The thing is quite resilient, and although some people like to eat it i find it a major pain for mediocre small food, with a high risk of fiberglass like pricks in the finger and mouth.