Samantha Lewis

Hello Sheldon!

Welcome to permies!

I used to have roosters like that.  They would scream at me every time I went out to the garden.   It was terrible.   I was able to train them a bit by spraying them with the hose.

You might be able to set up a sprinkler so they get sprayed but do not see that you are doing it.


Since winter is coming, you might be able to put up some sound deadening walls around your run.  You can stuff pallets with wool or mud and straw.  That will help contain the sound in the run area.

I used this technique around my geese when they were nesting.  They get pretty loud and it helps a lot.


Good luck!

Hello Ryan!  

I think using raw milk is great.  I much prefer raw milk to pasteurized.  


You might need to bring it up to a temperature to kill off unwanted bacteria.  

Hello Ryan!

I would make sure your milk is clean.  If you are using raw milk you might try making a clabber and see how that turns out.   If the clabber smells rotten you probably have bacteria in your milk.  




Also be sure you are not using metal.  Kefir is sensitive to metallic spoons and strainers.  

Are you fermenting anything else in the house?  Some ferments do not play nicely with other ferments.  Specifically kombucha and sourdough cannot hang out together.  


How to make clabber:

Hello Taz!

Welcome to permies!

Wheaton Labs is a beautiful community near Missoula Montana.  
https://wheaton-labs.com


We have a program called the bootcamp.  You can live here, eat all organic food and do fun projects Monday - Friday.  You have your evenings and weekends free and after a month of being here you can pick out an acre where you can practice your artistry in seed and soil.  Build a little house, create a garden, raise some livestock.  

We only ask that you commit to one week.  Here is the link to sign up:

https://permies.com/wiki/bootcamp


There is a $100 fee to get started.  After that you can stay here for free as long as you want while participating in the program of about 40 hours per week doing permaculture and homesteading projects to support yourself and future bootcampers.


Another option, if you are looking for a place of your own, is the Skills to Inherit Property (S.K.I.P) program.

You really can skip the rat race!




The S.K.I.P program is completely free. It makes owning a farm possible for anyone who is willing to put in the work and do the protects to get verified.

You can have a beautiful farm of your own.

Here is another link with more information:
https://permies.com/wiki/skip-pep-bb

Maybe the best I can do right now is buy another round of the original cards!



Which are really great.

Here is the link:
https://gardener-gift.com/

It looks like I gave all the thumbs up I can already!   I gave you some apples!  

I would donate money to this project to help get you all to the next step.  

Hello Judith!

I usually think wood is ok if it does not have the little staple marks of pressure treated wood.  I am probably just naive though.  This does look like the nice green of algae rather than the yucky green of treatment.  

Does it stink or feel yucky when you touch it?    You might cut into it and look at the wood shavings.  Alge would be just on the very surface.  If the green is treatment it may be greener just below the surface where it has not been weathered off.

If something gives me any kind of a yucky feeling, I don't use it near my garden or livestock.   If it gives me a real yucky feeling I get it off my property.  

Hello Andrés!
It looks like you all have done a huge amount of work on the new deck of cards!   They are so beautiful.  I really love the purple color.  It makes it look special, almost like it is a magic deck of cards!  

I thought you guys pretty much covered everything in the first deck but it looks like this is a whole new deck with completely new content.

I ferment grain to feed to chickens and geese.   I would think you could do this with spent grain from a brewery.   I would add enough water to the container to completely cover the grain and keep it out of the sun.  This will keep it anaerobic so it will not smell or rot.   I just ladle out what I will feed each day and put it through a colander.  I pour the liquid back in the fermenting tub.  

It seems like I feed less grain when it is fermented like this than just feeing whole or cracked grain.   I also feel like there are more nutrients in the feed.

Hello Mike!  

That is a great video!  Thank you for posting it.  I always grow wheat for my chickens to harvest but we use a combine to harvest and thresh the majority of the crop.
This year I got a stone grinder.  I have been grinding our own white and red wheat.  I don't think I will ever buy flour or bread again!  For me, it feels so freeing to grow and make my own bread.    Maybe next year I will try threshing out my own grain.

Thanks!