Nicola Bludau

My daughter managed to lose the laptop we borrowed her. When I wanted it back she gave me another old one telling me that it does not work and no windows key on it either. I simply deleted the whole system and put linux on it and now I can use it. Simply use a functioning computer and ask ai how to do it. Otherwise give it away on FB marketplace.

No matter from which angle I look at the problem, I always come to the same conclusion: the house cow. Something small, maybe a Dexter Jersey cross.
Goats are good too, but they seem to be much more difficult to keep. Sheep just don't give that much milk, but they are easy to keep and a little bit difficult to milk.

But the cow is like no other animal; no other animal produces more manure and improves the soil in a more dramatic way. It gives a decent amount of milk so that two families can share one cow.
They eat more than just grass; they eat things like lablab bean, sugarcane, banana leaves, banagrass and more.

I don't have a cow, but the cow is the difference between malnutrition and being good. (You can have that with goats, too, just less docile)

It depends on how well your soil holds water, but  I would dig a bit more to make the whole thing worthwhile. Sepp Holzer has some videos on how to seal ponds. A packet of bentonite would help to seal it but watch these videos (I hope there's something in English)

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:Grains!? What a huge topic.

The grain called corn produces huge yields with minimal labor. A simple, hand cranked, hundred year old sheller can process hundreds of pounds per hour.

The grain rye grows wild in my community without irrigation, without weeding, without planting. It self-grows as a feral food. Harvest goes quickly.

A 13 foot long row of wheat provides 5 pounds of grain for me, which could feed me bread for a week. It takes me an hour to harvest and clean with simple tools like a stick, tarp, and a couple of buckets. So in 50 hour week, I could harvest and clean enough wheat to feed myself for a year.

I grow oats, but haven't fallen in love with productivity or processing.

Barley seems hard for me.

I can't grow rice.

I might could grow sorghum, millet, amaranth, or kinwa grains, but I didn't grow up with them as part of my social indoctrination.



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That sounds good, I simply try everything. I can't grow rice either. We have a tiny house garden there is no space all planted already and our bigger garden has no water - that means no rice. Amaranth has an insane yield but I wasn't good wth processing and the chooks didn't like it. Quinoa is more of an altitude thing and we're at sea level. But there is nothing bad with wheat only wheat and rye make good sourdough breads (and all the older wheat varieties like spelt).

Josh Warfield wrote:Saying flat out that grains aren't worth it is a little intense, compared to what Mr. Lawton actually said in the video. I thought he seemed quite careful to clarify that he wasn't making a universal statement, only one based on his specific context, and suggesting that most small-scale producers would find their context to be similar to his.

Of course, he did say something more nuanced. But I liked the punch of the video.

I tried to grow oats back in the colder climate, and the rats ate it. The same with the corn.
But I had a huge success with amaranth but the processing was a bit difficult.
I think that the main problem with grains is the processing and not the growing, but I will see how my trials go this year (rats, birds, kangaroos, deer)
I use seeds from the supermarket or the Indian grocery store., they germinate just fine.

With the sweet potatoes, I found there is a decline in yield after a while. I planted them in our sandy garden.

I did grow peanuts for the first time this year, and they did well, and the harvest was very good. I will repeat that. I believe peanuts are not very good as a staple fat because of the type of oil.
Goats are super destructive if they jump a fence, and you need several of them, which makes me think that maybe a small Dexter cow would be much better.
There is an advantage of herbivores because they don't really need grain or very little if they get other sources of carbs like canna edulis for example.

Making good cheese is quite an art! That's it it's not only about raising animals and growing food there are a lt of processing and kitchen skills.
I believe guerilla gardening is a good idea. Say, plant every nut and avocado seed somewhere or even citrus or other things. Most of the apples at roadsides here grew from apple leftovers people threw out of their cars.
Or every pumpkin seed. Or even sunflowers.
There is a potato variety purple congo that grows like a weed.

I simply started, and hope that these horrible feral deer don't get in! It is autumn so I sowed one bed barley out of the chicken food, another one sunflower (not really a grain) and some fancy ancient wheat they had in the health food section of the supermarket.
I also realised that I can't grow sweet potatoes in the same spot year after year - i have a patch in the front yard that I want to sow with some grains it would certainly look lovely (and the birds probably like it too).
I like my bread and i would like to grow my own chook food.

This looks awesome! How is that material on the top called I searched it in FB marketplace and couldnot find it.

First, I think feeding the grain to animals is somewhat easier because it circumvents too much processing.
Then there is the other advantage that it gives your bedding for the animals this is a plus!
I also want to know whether that threshing in the bucket with chains on an electric drill works; it's all over YouTube.