Permies in Central Mass?

Is anyone from the Worcester / Millbury / Sturbridge area of Massachusetts?
I have a few RI Reds, FG/NZ rabbits, a pet Muskovy and a handful of veggies.
Just looking for like minded people to see what projects they are working on in Central Massachusetts.

Anyone have good feed stores? I may have found one in Southern NH that has good whole wheat and oats. If anyone wants info I can post once I confirm if their grains are good or not.
I am also on FB as Tarzans Urban Homestead if anyone wants to see pictures and video's of what I have been up to.

Stay green!

Freddie AKA Tarzan

It's nice to see another mass here.

I'm in the Sturbridge area and in the design phase for my 3 acre homestead. Would love to collaborate and help out!

Hey Robert,

I am at a dead slow crawl here and it is killing me! Problems with my Tilapia tank are killing me the worst right now. My pump and filter are shot and as of tonight the water is so dark I can't see my fish. No idea what to do since my schedule is up at 5.30 am, gone by 6.30 and back at 9pm. I don't have a back up tank nor a net so I will have to get my father over the house since my wife isn't up for tasks like this. He has a way of being able to fix everything!
I still have the rabbits and chickens going great though!
I have been trying to rehome a Muskovy Drake, NH Red hen, and a Copper Maran barn mix hen. If you know anyone who would want them let me know! I don't have a winter shelter for them because my Rhode Islands wont let them in the chicken coop. It is like a deathmatch when anything tries to get in with the RI's! They are the Queen layers though so I they won't be going anywhere until someone outlays them!

I am interested in hearing your plans for the homestead! My set up takes up a grand total of 264 sq ft so I would be in heaven with 3 acres to play with!
What is your overall goal for the homestead?
Do you have a 1 year, 5 year, 10 year plan?

I decided to scrap my 10 year plan and just go with the flow for the next 2 years and re assess.
I am in training for small engine, motorcycle, snowmobile and marine Mechanics. I just want my rabbits, chickens, tilapia and the 9x9 garden for now!
If you need any work done to lawnmowers, weed wackers, snow blowers I can take them in next month or so and do everything for parts costs.

Stay dry! I heard the rain is coming down hard the rest of the week!

Hi Freddie,

I'm also kind of nearby, right off of i84 in Tolland, Ct, and raise FG rabbits, chickens, goats, and geese on a forty acre former dairy farm. ( converting a lot of it to fruit tree forest, but growing strawberries until those start producing). My aquaponic setup is currently dismantled for a couple months during the completion of my move to the farm, and will be converted to tilapia when resetup, but would love to compare notes and lessons learned. I've done catfish and koi in it before in one 20gallon setup followed by 50g, but a disaster at 600g.

My key question is how did the wheat source turn out? I really want to sprout those for my rabbits as oats tend to sprout unevenly, but cannot find a cost effective source

Thanks

Alex

FYI there's a nice group of folks in Western MA doing stuff. A certain jolly fellow I know runs some nice community events out of his coffee shop in Pittsfield. Film screenings, etc. In fact I'd say Pittsfield is really getting on a roll permaculturally speaking. Keep us Berkshire folks in mind if you're interested in a meetup or whatever.

Alex, Sorry for not getting back to your post sooner. The sprouts weren't great but were good enough to do it every once in a while. I will sprout again this weekend and see what happens come Tuesday. I was watering lightly every day. This time I will try and place a specific amount of water to seed and let it do it's thing. The 50lb bag was 13 dollars I believe but the store is in NH. Next run I can make sure to get 2 extra bags if all goes well with my new experiment and you are interested.
I lost my Tilapia due to pump issues and being out of the home I had little to no control. I was bent out of shape for a while.
Something I also found is Tilapia is not on the list of approved fish in Massachusetts. Next time I do aquaponics I will have to go with catfish.
Meghan, I actually purchased a couple American Blue's from a nice guy in Pittsfield a year back. He has a great garden and rabbitry set up. His Flemish Doe was gorgeous, I wanted her more than the blue's I bought!!!

If you're looking for some a cool project in central mass, you may be interested in checking out my project in Plainville.

I have been studying and teaching permaculture for about ten years now and just finished my first growing season at Crystal Spring Farm.  I was chosen to revive beautiful old farmland that has been a center for earth-based education for many years.  I'd love for you all to see and follow along with my project.  I have a newsletter that you can sign up for on my website that goes out every few weeks in the winter and almost weekly during the growing season.  I'll be giving guided tours, teaching classes and hosting events come spring time.  

www.crystalspringfarm.org