Here are the updates from 5-25.

Here are some updates to the garden. It is no longer a Hugelkultur, so mods, feel free to move the thread if necessary.


Pictures from May 19th 2021

I'd be honored to be a guest on your blog. I have a few pictures from before and during the process that I haven't shared. Just let me know what you need.

I am on my way to suburban homesteading. I am working on progressing towards a more permaculture friendly approach. I try to get as many garden inputs for free as possible. I will frequently grab peoples yard trash bags off the curb to use for mulch. I have all the arborists' numbers saved, and they all know me. I have access to local manure and spoiled hay. I also will take my push mower and bagger into overgrown fields to fill the back of my truck for making Korean organic farming inputs. I make my own pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides using the Korean methods, but try to limit their use.

Here is a rough sketch of what all I currently have going on.





Here are my grapes.


The next ones show my annual bed.










Finally, my recent blueberry project.

Here is how I "beat" it. I sprayed it all down with a 20% citric acid solution, strengthened by joy soap as a surfactant (1TBL per Gallon) I then put down heavy mulch, 18 inches of arborist wood chips. Finally, during the dormant season, I throw all my scraps into this area to encourage the chickens to keep it scratched. The chickens will actually dig up and eat the tubers and rhizomes when they begin to sprout, however, I find it best to keep the area loose with a Broadfork, keep it mulched, and to continue to hand weed every chance I get.

It eventually does go away, for the most part, however it will be a constant battle to keep it from returning.

I am in the process of getting creeping thyme established as a cover crop.

I have had much experience "deer proofing" gardens. The only thing that has kept them out, for me, is as follows. Clear monofilament fishing line strung between posts with about 18 inches of space per line. I usually go 6 feet high, using 4 strings around the entire perimeter. You will want to use something with more than 20lbs rating. I realize you want your design to be aesthetically pleasing, so this may not be ideal. There may be some creative ways to incorporate this design into something lovely that I cannot picture!

The idea is that the deer will bump into the fence, not be able to see it, and be frightened away, and it works.

Mac Gills wrote:Hello - I have a design idea for a deer-proof garden fence. I haven't seen anything like what I'm proposing and I was hoping for some feedback, even if it's "you're crazy, dude".

In short, I am working on designing our garden fence that is cost effective, handsome, and deer proof. Our garden will be near where we host people and I'd had to ruin our beautiful view with an overly utilitarian fence if possible. Deer run all through my property so whatever we build has to keep them out and anything with tall posts gets expensive quick.

So, in my learning about deer, I read that they have poor depth perception and therefore a useful way to discourage deer from hopping a fence is to build a redundant fence 2-3 feet off. The gap in the fence confuses the deer as they cannot tell how far apart the fences are and they will avoid jumping in between. So, with this in mind, I have wondered if the following design would accomplish the same thing:

The garden fence would be a typical split rail fence along the perimeter of the garden. Immediately outside of the fence would be a row of bushes, possibly evergreens that grow 18-24 inches high (not sure exactly what, TBD). Immediately outside of that would be a row of medium-sized rocks, 12" or so high. The attached pdf shows the design better than I can explain. I can source a lot of the rocks from neighbor farmers and get young bushes to grow up.

My thought is that this would "fatten" up the fence and, in the mind of the deer, giving it a bit of depth that would discourage getting into the garden and peaking around. In theory (aka in my head) it works, but I'm an engineer! Most things work only in my head!

Has anyone done something like this before or seen something like this? Would it work? Anything else to suggest?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Hey there, I have dealt with bulging discs in my neck and lower back for a while now, and I can share what really works for me.

First I will share that I am a large man. I am 6'2" barefooted. I have weighed as much as 425 lbs, but am at a much more comfortable 230 now. Losing that weight help me the most.

This pain comes from inflammation. The first thing I need to do switch to an anti-inflammatory diet.

This means water and tea only for drink, no sugar, no grains, select carbs. Lots of water, all the time.

Anti inflammatory supplements are great: tumeric, ginger, tart cherry, etc.

Next I need to ice the affected area. Ice it for 20 minutes, then let it heat back up.

I repeat this hourly. Once a day I will lay flat on the ground with a rolled up towel placed under the curve of the neck. I remain like this for 10 minutes the first day, and increase this to 30 minutes over time.

After a while, I am able to introduce some more stretching. Stretch everything! If I stretch my hamstrings, I am sure to stretch my quads an equal amount.

Some things that have helped me have been hanging from a bar and also an inversion table, but not the table for the neck!

Walking running and jogging barefooted are great too.

Finally when all healed up, I return to strength building exercises, but am sure to stay in balance. If I work out the back, I need to do equal work to the chest. Yoga is also great!

A chiropractor can help a limited amount as well, but I don't want to waste too much money on them!

Sharla Kew wrote:Paul is in a bad way, folks.

An easily-ignored twinge of back pain has blossomed into cervical radiculopathy, and he is currently in so much pain that he is unable to use the computer, read, or sleep without the help of Valium and painkillers. On the Brosh pain scale (attached), he's been hanging out in the 6 to 10 zone.

He is going to be out of action for at least a week, possibly for several weeks. On top of this, it is already a crazy busy time for Jocelyn, so please send them both good vibes.  

Cervical radiculopathy, also referred to as radicular pain, is a somewhat broad term for symptoms of any "condition that irritates a nerve in the cervical spine (neck)." The good news is that it's probably not caused by a herniated or ruptured disc, but he will be getting an MRI soon to make sure. The likely culprit here is long hours at the computer, so consider this a reminder to get up and stretch.

He wanted me to post about his condition not only as an update to his loyal public but to ask for help and advice. Does anyone have experience dealing with cervical radiculopathy, or any kind of spinal nerve pain? We seek tips for exercises, stretches, remedies, meditations, and anything, really.

I'll post updates on this thread as things unfold.

Good afternoon and Happy New Year Melissa, it is very nice to meet you!

My name is Hamilton, and I am a 32 year old swm, living fairly nearby in Sumter, and I am also seeking a relationship.

I would love to get to know more like-minded folks nearby.

I currently live in a 3/2 house on .5 acres. I dream of buying a homestead in the Mountains one day with a group of like minded friends. We are actually actively pursing this goal as part of a cooperative company.

Since I can be impatient, I have already started urban homesteading at my current home. It is truly amazing what one can accomplish in a small amount of space. I live "alone" with my dog, two cats, 10 chickens, 6 fish.

Please send me a PM if you are interested in getting to know me better.

Melissa Murdock wrote:Hi lovely people,

I am a single 34 white female.  I live with my 3 mutts ( 1 large one medium and one small) on 2.2 acres in Dorchester County, SC.  I am looking for a soul mate or a roommate who cares about gardening and self sustainabilitywebpage
 .  I have land that I bought, but I need a partner in crime to do most projects for cheap.  I can sew, and I am learning to garden.  I am free spirited, love fires, 420 friendly, drink to celebrate and not commiserate.  I am wanting to start a precious plastics workshop on my property in addition to adding a small pond and definitely gardens.  I think there is room for goats and a pig or two.  I am very open minded and just want someone to come on down, or up, or over,  and enjoy fishing and the beach with me.  I love the water first and foremost.  

I have a 2 bed and 2 bath house, so a room mate for starts would be ideal.  Its paradise in my part of the country, I guarantee you that.  

Used to be progressive, now dropped heavily into libertarian after the elections shook out.  Love 3d printing and crypto.  Love arts and am artistic.  

Anyone want to come hang out?  

I tried to add a pic, hopefully it worked out
https://imgur.com/a/vEhWley

Brian Vraken wrote:Not sure whether this is a mulch topic or a gardening topic, so feel free to move it to a better home if needed.

I've had a few years of gardening under mulches on this property. Year 1 was a load of old straw and hay. Year two and this past year were woodchips.

The original straw and hay can no longer be found, having broken down it's entirety. Despite depositing 12" of woodchips between fall of Year 1 and Year two, the woodchips were very thin by this past spring, and I had to add another ~4-6" to the garden. In other words, they've been breaking down fast. However, I am not getting tremendous production from my garden - my root vegetabls (beets, turnips, carrots, potatoes) didn't do great - the plants just didn't seem to want to grow until later in the season, despite me being very careful to ensure everything was planted in soil. The broccolli didn't really form heads, yet the cabbage I grew was show-worthy, and the brussels sprouts grew huge plants / leaves, though didn't actually develop useful heads on the stalk like I would hope. I feel like something must be missing from my soil profile - I *should* have strong organic matter and microbiology now. I see huge amounts of worms, the soil (a clay loam) under the chips has great tilth. The moisture levels were consistent - the mulch did a great job of keeping the soil moist despite 6 weeks with no rain. Everything about the soil suggests great fertility except the results...

Anyways, I'm making plans for next year, and one of my goals is to be more relaxed with weed contol - just focusing on preventing flowering / seed production, and only cutting them down if they start impacting plants. My thoughts after reading some threads is that additional root mass in the soil is only beneficial from a microbiology perspecitve, and roots that decompose in place aren't a bad thing. My main weeks are thistles, plantains, and grasses with small amounts of other plants in small quanitites..

While the thistles and plantains are manageable, I see trouble with is the grasses I've been fighting. I have a fairly aggressive rhizomatic grass in my garden. Every spring at planting time, I spend hours and root out as many rhizomes / plants as I can. However, I rarely have time to put in several hours per week into the grass battle over the summer, and by the end of the season, the grass has reestablished itself across the garden.

Has anyone succesfully conquered a grass like this? The rhizomes spread as deep as 6-8" below the surface - even in the soil under the woodchips. They *do* seem to be responding to increased soil fertility. The rhizomes will grow 4-5' in length in a few months. Rooting them out is a large job, and almost impossible once a bed is planted, which is part of the reason why the garden is half overrun by harvest. I do think I need to put in a hard edging around the outside of the garden, going down 6" at least... but that will be a big job.

I've tried smothering the plants, but that hasn't been effective. They still seem to survive and find a place to emerge even with cardboard and 6" of additional woodships on top. I eventually have to clear places to plant and put my veggies, and they come up there, and work their way through gaps and seams in the cardboard layer and colonize the chips above it...

Nature is putting up a great fight to reclaim this garden space. I'd love to work with nature... but if I let it go to sod, I won't be growing a garden anymore. The best option I can think of is to grow plants that close canopy and shade out the grass, but this gets back to my initial issue - my plants stay fairly thin, and don't grow anywhere near full potential.

Oh, and we don't have many allelopathic trees here, so I don't think the poor plant performance can be traced back to that.

I'd appreaciate any thoughts and suggestions. I'm already itching to go for next season!

Good morning, Brian.

I have been gardening with arborist's wood chips for 3 years now.
Although they are a great source for garden amendment, wood chips alone are not always enough.

When I made my beds in the late summer/ early fall, I first used several types of compost and several types of manures. I then put down about a foot of chips.

That winter, I planted my brassicas in trenches of good soil. They grew spectacularly, however they needed more water than I was used to using. I use Korean organic farming inputs, and I had to water with fertilizer once per week.

By that next spring, I was able to grow anything that was not a root vegetable with ease!

Now, starting year 3, root crops are growing great because the texture of the soil is perfect.

I constantly mulch with leaves, grass clippings, and more chips; as needed and constantly, being sure to keep at least  4 inches of mulch across the garden at all times.

I hope you can glean from this experience to help with your vegetable problems.




Onto the subject of the evil grasses; I have bermuda grass, Devil grass. I was able to conquer this nuisance by first laying down layers of cardboard and newspaper, but I have been plenty successful with just plain wood chips.

The key is to really load down the mulch, over 16 inches, after being packed down with rain and foot traffic.

You will still get a few survivors that you need to pull up.

You then need a fairly wide and deep trench around the perimeter of the garden.

Finally you have to maintain the trench and the mulch in your garden, constantly add mulch.

My garden is approximately 2000 square feet, and I can maintain the weeds and trenches alone with less than 15 minutes of work per week, as long as I stay on top of it.

s. lowe wrote:While cleaning out the garage I came up with an odd plan and I'd like to hear anyones thoughts or experiences on the matter. I have a big bag of wood shavings from madrone wood that was turned into bowls, I filled up a 10 gallon bucked with it and have been peeing in it as often as I can. It's been going now for about 2 weeks getting urine at least once a day. Will the wood compost? Will it get hot? too hot for the plastic bucket? Do I need to be concerned about off gassing in the sealed bucket? Any thoughts are appreciated.

I can't believe I am just now seeing this topic. I have a great deal of experience with this! I have a source of untreated poplar wood shavings from a wood shop. I pack a 5 gallon bucket tight with these for urination purposes.

After the first day or so, I will dump a glass of aquarium water in the bucket to jump-start the composting. Another GREAT alternative is to periodically dose the bucket with SPICE compost innoculant.

Anyhow, the bucket will smell, but the microbes from the aquarium, or the SPICE compost mix do a great job and keeping this to a minimum.

I have found that once the shavings are saturated, it is nearly the perfect ratio for composting; however the run off is a little hot.

I like to mulch nitrogen-starved plants with the saturated shavings. I will dump the soggier stuff in a fallow bed to help prep it for next year.

Alternatively you can leave it in the bucket, sealed, outside, for about about a year; and let nature break it down so you don't have to worry about the run off.

Gray Henon wrote:We've had good luck composting mammal butchering scraps in 55 gal drums using wood chips to absorb the stink.  Gave it a try with some carp carcasses.  Holy stink!  Anyone else compost fish?  How do you do it?

I compost my catfish carcasses directly in the garden. I am constantly expanding and rotating my garden, so I will simply bury the fish carcasses about a foot under the soil using post hole diggers. I usually have about 8 inches of mulch over these areas too. I use landscape flags to mark where I have already buried fish. This area will always remain fallow for the next season before I plant it. After skipping a season, the only thing remaining are the pectoral fin spikes, and the dorsal fin spike attached to its vertebra. Be careful because I have found them with the bottom of my feet many times. There is very little smell, unless a critter get into it.

I have struggled with gout for the past 5 years. I did not know I had gout until a year ago.
It first manifested in my Achilles tendon, and I had no idea what I was dealing with. Eventually it spread to my big toe, and this was the clue I needed to put two and two together.

The first and most important thing to do is to identify your triggers.
Many attribute their gout flare ups to things like processed meats, offal, red meat, etc.

For me, I found that what actually triggers the gout is to eat any combinations of the aforementioned classic gout foods within 24 hours of consuming processed sugars,processed wheat, and alcohol.

Some of the worst foods for me have been: Takeout pizza, cakes, sweets, and****BEER**. Beer is almost a guarantee for me. If I eat nothing all day, and drink 3 beers, my gout will be flared up the next day.

I have since found that I can drink pretty much any other form of alcohol that isn't sweetened and be ok.

So to summarize, I have found that my biggest triggers of gout are Beer, Gluten, and Sugar. This may be different for everybody, but I suspect many others share these triggers, and would not have thought they would be triggers just as I used to.

Some other unexpected minor triggers for me are ibuprofen and acetaminophen . Taking these medicines slows down my gout recovery. I suspect it has to do with the strain placed on the liver.

That being said, what can we use in nature to treat our gout when it is flared up?

For me, the natural supplements have outperformed the pharmaceutical substitutes.

The first thing I do is to drink plenty of good quality water; until my urine is nearly clear and odorless.

In order of effectiveness for me has been.

TART cherry extract. The extract works best for me because the whole cherries have a lot of sugar, and since sugar triggers inflammation, recovery is slowed.

Tumeric. Tumeric works great for all the inflammation I have, and is best used in combination with tart cherry to have maximum effectiveness.

Mullein. Mullein tea is my local option. I find it growing all over the place in fall and winter. It's best used by drying the leaves for preservation and making tea from this. Mullein tea is not bad, and it starts working nearly immediately .

I'll end my entry by emphasizing that everybody is different, and what works for me may not work for you.  

Emily Smith wrote:I’m in zone 7b/8a and the queen of time mismanagement.  We’re 9 weeks out from the first frost date (supposed to be Nov. 16).  Is it too late to start seeds?  I have Brussels sprouts, cabbage, lettuce, broccoli, and cauliflower seeds.  I’ve never tried a fall garden and was wanting to this year.

I am in 8a and I just got my seeds started last week. I like to grow collards, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, garlic, onions and peas during the fall. My collards are cold tolerant down to about 10 F or so and they usually grow over winter just fine.

Softneck Garlic would probably be perfect to plant right now anyways, so there is no worries there.

You still have a few months to start your onions from seeds too.

I collect old sheets and blankets for everything else. I picked up an old greenhouse from a friend that he got rid of because it was missing pieces. I use the pipes and connections to frame out my row covers, and since it so seldomly gets below 25F, I only end up using it a few times a year.

Winter is my favorite time to grow and garden! The pests are non existent, the ground needs less water, and the things that grow in the winter are by far my favorite to eat; the only drawback is the limited light and lower angle of the sun mean that only a reduced portion of my garden continues to produce well.

So to answer your question, no it is not too late!

Pearl Sutton wrote:I had a bad year here, out of the 300-some squash (summer and winter) and pumpkin plants I put in of 20+ types, I currently (September) still have 4 plants: 1 tromboncino and 3 (still young) kabocha. All the rest died of fungus or squash beetles. The things in better soil hold out longer (although none long enough to set fruit) so soil improvement is happening, and the ones that are still alive climbed things. I think it got them enough air flow to avoid fungus, and maybe got them up out of where the beetles can reach them so easily. So for next year, I am wondering Which squash varieties climb best?  Maybe if I start with things that will go up, I'll get some squash.
Thank you! :D

I have had great success with Seminole pumpkin this year. They climb well, and are not as heavy as the trombocinos are. North Georgia Candy Roaster is another good variety for you to try, but they may get too heavy for most vertical structures to support. I am currently growing all three, and hope to form some sort of landrace in the next few years/decades.

My trombocino seeds have been naturalized for 6 years now, and this is the first year i have introduced the other varieties. I have harvested just over 1000 lbs from my 1000 square foot garden this year so far.

All three of these varieties can endure the vine borerers, squash bugs, and humidity with great success.

I promised I would take notes, so I will deliver!


For liquid soap:

I did not use any "fish grease," because the fish smells are the fish fat, amd I didn't think this method would help. I'd love it if this weren't true, so please prove me wrong! Anyhow, without knowing the exact amounts, the following oils would most likely have been present: Canola, "Vegetable," peanut, grapeseed, avocado, coconut. I also had some frozen, used, duck fat, pig lard, and bacon grease." All of this went into the pot for cleansing.

I found these instructions online: "For every cup of frying oil, whisk together ¼ cup water and 1 tablespoon cornstarch. Add mixture to warm or cooled oil. Heat oil gently over low heat (do not let it simmer), stirring constantly with heatproof spatula, until starch mixture begins to solidify, 10 to 12 minutes." To clarify, you want the oil warm and melted, but not got. I then poured this mixture through a cheesecloth lined strainer.  

I then let the mixture cool in a clear container. Since oil is lighter than water, I noticed some layering and poured off the good oil up top, into a steel pot.

I wanted to stick to 1920's era tech for this, so i simply weighed the oil. It came out to 8.4 lbs. I found an old recipe that gave a generic calculation and an average KOH value of
.2X where X is the weight of the oil.

Balances and scales were certainly readily available in the 20s, so I used an old doctor's 2 beam balance to weigh my ingredients.

So anyways, back to my calculations.
With 90% KOH and a .2 factor that meant (8.4 * .2 ) / .9 = 1.867 lb of KOH needed and for a 3% superfat .97 *1.867 = 1.81 lbs.

Now you will mix that much lye into 2.5x as much water.

Edit** A note on water quality. It is absolutely crucial to use a soft water for good soap making. You can use distilled water or rainwater if you aren't sure.
That is 4.5 lbs or a little more than a half gallon water
Be careful and always use proper PPE!

With the oil on the stove on low heat, add the KOH solution and begin whisking thoroughly. I cheated here and used a hand mixer. Increase the heat to medium and and continue whisking until you get a mayo like consistancy.( You can actually pour these into molds for a solid soap now, but it will not be really hard and will go rancid quicker.)
Remove from heat amd forget about it overnight
It will remain warm until fully saponified, and may take 24 hours.

At this time, dilute the solid soap with an equal part of water
Stir vigorously for about 10 minutes. Then let it sit. You can forget about it for a week, or stir it every few hours to get a quicker result.

edit note: this is not the time to get impatient, put the hand blender away. if you over mix, you will get a frothy mess that will ruin your soap.  This mess will eventually recover, but it will not be of the same quality.

After the mixture becomes homogeneous, you can add more water for a thinner consistancy, if that is what you like.

Edit note: if you find the soap too hot after a while, you can always add carrier oils and fragrances. Be careful though, only add a small amoint at a time. .5% of the total weight is a good target for fragrance oils. You dont want to overdo it here.

r ranson wrote:

Hamilton Betchman wrote:

I want to say there is a way to calculate lye based on Specific Gravity of the oils, but I am not sure. I will look into it.

exactly!  With cold cured soap this is hugely important.

However, with the hot-cured soap, this wasn't needed because you can tell if there is excess lye before you pour the soap into the mould to cure.  Since our cooking oils are mixed, I want to find that hot cured soap recipe to try.  

I will be making liquid soap, hot process, and I will share my results.

r ranson wrote:The recipe I have lost had something like this for cleaning used oils.

Heat the oils, add cold water to the oils and it precipitates the particles and odour causing stuff to attach to the water and fall to the bottom.  Let it sit a while, then pour off the oil and repeat a few times until the oil is clean.  

I'll try this soon and report back. I have tons of old cooking oil and I am running low on all purpose cleaning soap.

I want to say there is a way to calculate lye based on Specific Gravity of the oils, but I am not sure. I will look into it.

The issue I have is that I just pour all my used oils into one vat and there is no real way to know how much of each is present.

i have recently heen usimg a venturi siphon, but find it very limited with my high pressure and volume application. Can anyone suggest some more high volume equipment? thanks!

I wanted to share a few more photos. One photo shows what they will do if left an entire week. They will eventually eat the grass too! It seems like they prefer the "weeds" to the grass.They also do make a dust bath everywhere I move the coop, but this spot regrows within a week.

Jay Angler wrote:That's a beautiful build Hamilton, and your evaluation in your last post is good too!

Things I like about it: 1. You used hardware cloth - modern "chicken wire" is too wimpy to keep many predators out - 1/2" hardware cloth is an excellent choice.
2. The coop is large enough to walk into - chickens are messy! At some point, a coop or coop/run combo is going to have to be cleaned, so being able to get into it and reach all areas without having to crawl through shit is an asset. Also, if a chicken gets hurt, think about how you're going to get to it when planning a coop.
3. The coop has a secure area with a good roof, and open areas for sun - if chickens are largely contained to an area, even if they're going to move daily, they need 8-10 square feet/chicken for quality of life - particularly if there's a squabble.

People need to heed your warning about weight! I'm only about 5'4" and 115 lbs and there's no way I could move your coop. I've seen too many plans get grounded because it took too many people or was just too hard to move. That can be affected by weather also! Is there a time of year when the wheels will just sink into soft, water-logged ground? Do you need to find a garden area where you can "plant" your mobile coop for the winter because it doesn't move through snow?

Personally, I recommend that perches are easy to remove (ours are held with bolts) and especially, that nest boxes are easy to remove. The latter is because it's much easier to clean a nest box if it can be removed, and cleaned out in the open with either the roof removable or the back removable. The nest boxes are a great place to get a mite infestation (which can pass to well-cared for chickens from wild birds) and they can get messy if for some reason a bird is laying weak-shelled eggs which break easily, or a bird starts roosting in a nest box. Cleaning chicken infrastructure is generally not on anyone's "I love to do this job" list, so I really encourage people to think about that as they're designing their coops. I *really* like Hamilton's attitude - he designed for *his* comfort as well as his birds!

Thank you for your advice. I will certainly be sure to make my nest boxes removable.

I just wanted to share this photo of how the chickens eat all the weeds and leave just my grass.

This is after 24 hours.

Brody Ekberg wrote:Hamilton, how’s it going with your mobile coop? Im looking into getting 4-6 Orpingtons and debating on either a mobile coop and paddock system or possibly mobile coop and free range. We have a young texas heeler and I’m not sure how she will be with chickens free ranging around... she likes to chase. I’ve been reading a lot and it sounds like everyone’s situation is different and theres no “right” way to do this chicken thing. Just curious how this has been working for you so far.

I am really enjoying my current setup and have had lots of positive comments from neighbors! I will be adding the nesting boxes soon, but I am in no rush since they are only 8 weeks old.

At their current size, I can leave them for 2 days, maybe 3, in one spot without too much visible damage to my pretty st. Augustine and weed pasture. I am thinking this will be just right when they are full grown. I currently have the coop on a 4 day rotation around a pecan tree, providing it with much needed nutrition. That is to say the coop makes a circle around the tree every 4 days, and I am repeating this for the next several weeks before I send it back into the yard.

Anyways, This design works for me, but I am much stronger than average, at 6'2", 250lbs. The design I went with lets me walk all in the coop, but this is absolutely not necessary. I think someone of smaller stature could easily get away with building access to the nest box i the back of the coop, and keeping the run low, in order to save weight and cost on materials. One could also make the frame of the run out of lighter material, but this design works great for me!

My chickens will generally be free range, but I want them to have a safe place to roost and lay eggs.

I wanted a structure that I could move around as I wanted to take advantage of the sun, and I don't really want to shovel chicken litter.

I decided to basically make a simple, classic, coop and run, but with some wheels.

I picked up some fixed caster wheels from harbor freight for 10 bucks apiece, and some 3/8 inch carriage bolts, nuts, washers. These were super simple to mount.

The project ended up costing me 400$ I have more lumber from this purchase to finish the roosting spots and the egg boxes.

I made about 10 gallons of JADAM urine liquid fertilzer last year, and I am amazed at it's effectiveness as a plant growth booster.
I made it by putting a few scoops of leaf mold into a bucket and filling it up myself. The bucket then sat in the elements for about 9 months before I started using it.
I usually water it with sprinklers and a venturi injector. I usually mix about a pint with another cup of compost tea and a gallon of water  After the right amount has been
applied, I switch to plain water and finish the application.

I have been wary of using this near harvest time, but I really don't think it should matter.
As time went on, I found out that I can fill up a lot of buckets!
I also gained access to a nearly unlimited supply of poplar wood shavings from a friend's wood shop, so I devised a plan.

I started jamming my bucket full of these shavings.
I try to get about 10 lbs stuffed into a bucket.
Next, I add a couple cups of water from my aquarium.
My thoughts were that there should already be some good urine eating microbes in that water.
I will then fill the bucket up about 3/4 full with my liquid gold.
I did some calculations and determined this should give me between a 20-30:1 ratio of carbon to nitrogen.
After the bucket is full, it sits in the warmest place I can find for a couple weeks.
I then use the black sludge as a top dressing /mulch for my ornamental plants.

I have had tremendous success with my gladiolus, daylillies, and irises this year.
They struggled in the hard clay ground last year, but they are thriving this year!

My question for everyone is, how can I make this better?
Can I use my sludge on food crops?
Is my JADAM Urine LF application safe for food crops?
How do y'all use your liquid gold?
Are my rationalizations correct?

Thanks so much, and happy spring!

I hate peat pots! There I said it. They are terrible. They draw all the moisture out of the soil and stress plants, they don't break down, they're ugly, and they are not reusable.

I know plastic is "bad," but there has to be some kind of hemp fiber replacement or something out there.

I personally will re-use plastic pots until they fall apart.

All 4 have now hatched successfully!

Good morning permies,
        Several weeks ago, when I was out running, I came across a rooster someone had dumped off out in the country. He was an extremely friendly Buff Orpington.

I decided to give him to a friend of mine who keeps chickens where you can have a rooster in exchange for fertilized eggs.

I put the eggs in the incubator 21 days ago, and last night, my first chicken hatched.

It is a Rhode Island Red mixed with the Buff Orpington.

The other hybrid I will produce will be a sex-linked chick, meaning I will be able to tell the sex by the colors of the newborn chick!

They will be the Buff Orpington crossed with Barred Rock Hens.


Hatch Video

Anita Martini wrote:That is an impressive setup!

I have less space for my seeds inhouse. German houses are usually much smaller, but the difference I see from the picture is that we have proper inside (and outside) window sills.
So all my pepper and tomato production starts inside on the two south-facing window sills I have.

I keep seeding space reduced and when the little plants are big enough for transplant there is sometimes a short time when things get really crowded inhouse. But ideally at that stage they can move to the (unheated) greenhouse already. I keep fleece/bubble wrap/newspapers at hand for really cold nights, but usually this works fine.
I have to add that I am a stay-at-home mum most of the time which allows me to move the seedlings around as the sun moves, or put them outside for hardening off on nice days.
Our last frost date is mid May, and even if this is not the case in all years I have to be prepared.

One more thing to consider: Most seeds need warmth to germinate, but not light. So I keep the pots/trays warm and only move them to a lighter location when they emerge. The bigger ones will move out by the time, so ideally I have a kind of rotation going on.

Thank you for your response. It is so nice to hear how others do things, especially in other parts of the world.

I am extremely jealous of your "proper window sills," and proper South Facing windows, neither of which I really have.  

What is the coldest outside temperature your plants will survive in this unheated greenhouse?

I may have to make a slight investment for a cheap one for next year so I can keep the office in my house functional!

Good morning permies!

As an urban/surburban gardener, I am very limited for space.

I don't yet have a greenhouse, so I have had to improvise.


I first started by making my own seed starting mix.

I made this from compost coco coir, and sand/clay subsoil leftover from the well drilled. About equal parts of each.

Then I used a hydro water tank I got on sale from growersupply for about 50 bucks.

I then got a full sheet of lexan and used this to keep the chamber humid.

I am using a 1000W LED, 2 full spectrum CFL's leftover from 5 or more years ago, and a 175W HPS that I added later.

I have learned that you have to water potted plants from the bottom for the best results, so I made a tub and hooked an aerator to the water to keep it aerobic.

I was watering with Aquarium water and a little added liquid kelp.

Check out the timeline of pictures I have attached, they can tell the story as well as I can!


What other tips and tricks do y'all have to share for starting seeds indoors?

Thanks!



Some new things I have learned this year.

Peat pots work great for peppers.

Peat pots are not so great for tomatoes.

Plastic pots are great for Tomatoes.

Plastic pots are not so great for peppers.

If I had only one to choose, it would have to be plastic pots. To make it economical, you need to reuse them as many times as possible.

Humidity is crucial early on with the nightshades and basil.

Kale does not need as much humidity.

I am currently wanting to build a portable bunny colony for meat and fertilizer, but I cannot find breeding stock anywhere!

Anyone local have any for sale?

Anyone have any resources I could use to try and find sellers?

I have tried craigslist, letgo, google. I have contacted the extension service, and I have even spoken with the owners of the local meat packaging plants.

I have spoken with friends who used to raise them, but their connections are no longer in the business.

Please, help!


Also, I am planning to build artificial burrows out of a half a 55 gallon drum. I read about some a university in PA made that worked for wild rabbits, so I assume they will be good for domestic stock.

Eric Hanson wrote:Hamilton,

Good job on taking the course!

I will be interested to see what your thoughts when the course is through.  Especially I will be interested what they say about organic or better gardening.

Eric

Thanks, I'll try to keep the thread updated as I progress. There has already been much emphasis on the low organic material in South Carolina Soils, as well as the role microbes, manures, and cover crops play into its creation.

One interesting tidbit they noted was how areas where soil was created with poor drainage have retained more organic material.

This really sounds to me like thousands of little farm ponds are needed to slow our soil erosion, in addition to giving up the deep plowing.

Good morning Permies,
                                   Against much warning from my organic growing friends, I have decided to enroll in the Master Gardener class through the local university extension.

I have just started this week, but I am a fast reader, so I have read ahead in the manual a great deal. Although all the old conventional knowledge is taught, there are frequent addendums which show how to do it organic. They seem to be doing a decent job of explaining this without stepping on the toes of their big corporate grantors.

It's really funny because they will go through this long detailed complex process for conventional agriculture, then they will finish the section with a short organic tidbit.

So for example they went into great detail about micro-nutrients, which ones interfere with others, how to get micro-nutrients into the soil, etc. Then in one paragraph they basically said, or  you could leave more grass clippings and leaves on the ground, instead of bagging them up. Plots managed in this manner seldom need micro-nutrients.

I just don't see how someone is going to read pages of detailed instruction on conventional farming, then see such a simple solution, and choose conventional anyways.


I feel optimistic about the direction science is headed in the field of agriculture.


I am also privy to see some organic products which are being developed, through my job, and this is also encouraging.

Skandi Rogers wrote:Most stinkhorns are actually edible in the egg stage at least. but do check if the type you have is before adding them to dinner.

How do they taste?

I may not have the guts to try this one myself.

That is a great idea! I love walking around the house in my sock-feet.

What I usually do is to throw the more absorbent cotton socks in the rag pile after cutting them in half longways.

For the dress socks, I actually make dog toys out of by stuffing them with treats and tying the socks in knots all the way up, with layers of treats in between.

If you try this yourself, please be sure to only let your dog play with these while supervised! Some dogs think the socks are food too, and will swallow them whole.

I am fortunate enough to have a dog with some sense, but I still won't ever leave her alone with these toys.


I love posts like these. It's always so great to get new ideas on how to save money and reduce our inputs into the environment.

Diane Kistner wrote:

Chris Kott wrote:You might also, if you can find a large quantity of mulch to add, top up the beds with more mulch suitable as mushroom substrate, and inoculate with compost extract and fungal slurry, but I would suggest making the fungal slurry from a single aggressive species. I would look to oyster, first off, but some with more practical experience than I have might suggest wine caps. I suspect that in your case, the three types of mushroom might have caused eachother a competitive disadvantage against the established native fungi.

This is a timely posting and good advice. I have a large bed filled with downed tree logs, sawdust, wood chips, and leaves edged in logs that I've been "saving for later" after it starts really rotting down. I have Clathrus columnatus coming on big-guns in this bed. Yesterday, I was sleuthing through the yard trying to find out what smelled so bad, and that was it! I'll plan to let it go until maybe July, then tarp it as you suggest and plan to innoculate with wine caps on wood chips later.

This is what these babies look like. They start off looking like puffballs.

Same grow zone, same region, same problem!

I'm glad to know I am not alone. Those things REEEK.

Chris Kott wrote:They do still decompose wood. Beyond that I cannot say, except they also smell, and look unpleasant.

If you want an edible mushroom and don't mind some work, and if it doesn't clash with whatever you might already be doing in the space, I would consider tarping the area off for the sunniest part of the year with a black tarp or pond liner and solarizing the bed. That way, you'd give a competitive edge to the fungi in the next slurry you apply.

If this is too scorched earth for your liking, I would suggest perhaps flipping whatever of your mulch you can onto a tarp or hard surface, to dry it out and maybe do some of the solarization of the mulch on which the stinkhorns are growing.

You might also, if you can find a large quantity of mulch to add, top up the beds with more mulch suitable as mushroom substrate, and inoculate with compost extract and fungal slurry, but I would suggest making the fungal slurry from a single aggressive species. I would look to oyster, first off, but some with more practical experience than I have might suggest wine caps. I suspect that in your case, the three types of mushroom might have caused eachother a competitive disadvantage against the established native fungi.

You shouldn't need to give the oyster much of a boost. It's usually a good choice because it deals with competition well.

Let us know how you proceed, though, and good luck.

-CK

Thank you very much for this insight. I have plenty of access to more mulch, so I think I am going to top everything off. The weather has been perfect for mushrooms, what with all the mild temperatures and rain , so I think I am going to head into the woods this weekend in search of the fabled oyster mushroom.

Thanks again, and I will update later with pictures.

I have been collecting wood chips and leaf mulch all year and adding it to my garden. I have inoculated them with mushroom slurries multiple times consisting of reishi, oyster, and lion's mane mushrooms each time. Well, the only mushroom I am getting fruit from is the stink horn mushroom, Mutinus elegans.

Besides being inedible, is this fungus still as beneficial to the decay of the wood chips as the edible ones like oyster, wine cap, and lion's mane?

Should I just roll with what I've got and be happy?

Thanks!

S Tenorman wrote:I'm in a desert region of 8a, similar except summer here is three months of over 100F, and very low humidity, low to no rain.

Artichoke did good for me last year.  They're still green and growing well right this minute with several nights in the twenties.  20F right now, so I'm not sure if they'll die back some or not.

Asparagus is doing well for over five years now.  Not great harvests, but that's more because of my neglect than anything else.

I'd like to try tree collards, against a south facing wall.  Not sure if they could handle it, but in the right microclimate maybe.

Like you, some of the others you mentioned.  Gojis do really well here it seems.

Grapes do well here.  

Dino Kale will survive the winter no problem here, but I think it's a bi-annual, although I kind of think I read that some people cut the flowers off and they keep going for years.

I just planted a bed of strawberries a couple of weeks ago.  Hoping they do well for years to come.

Mainly interested in what the other experts on this site have to add.  I want to focus on perennials that do well in our zone as well.

Good luck!

Thank you for sharing this. Good luck to you as well.

Tyler Ludens wrote:I think you fit in the "Hot and Humid" category in this list of perennial vegetables by climate:  http://www.perennialsolutions.org/a-global-inventory-of-perennial-vegetables

This is exactly what I needed! I will probably purchase his book as well.

Thank you!

Good morning!

As I further my research into building the most fertile, healthy, and diverse soil food web, I have reached my next goal milestone. In order to step my game up to the next level, I need to start incorporating more perennials into my garden. However, I have no idea where to even start for my area. I feel like I am just between temperate and subtropical, and even though sometimes this means I can grow more plants, it can also be quite restrictive.

I already grow a healthy selection of nuts, grapes, figs, blueberries, goji berries, blackberries, raspberries, and lemons; but I am looking to incorporate perennial vegetables and greens.

Any advice on these varieties and where to look for these varieties would be much appreciated!  

I am located in the midlands of South Carolina, Zone 8a. We typically have 1-10 nights of sub 25 degree cold, broken up by many days in the mid 60's with lows in the low 40's each winter. Summer can get rough as sometimes we can go several weeks without it getting below 80 at night. We usually get at least a dozen days over 100 per summer too.