Kathleen Sanderson

I've been debating about sheep. Parasites are such a problem here that, in spite of regular worming with the recommended wormers for our area, I've had high losses in my goats. There are several breeds of sheep that are highly parasite-resistant; most of them are hair sheep, but the Gulf Coast Native/Florida Cracker do have fleeces. I'd like to get away from having to use chemical wormers, so I'm considering switching out the few goats I have left for one of these sheep breeds. Personally, I'm inclined towards the hair sheep for my situation, but the Gulf Coast Native/Florida Cracker sheep would be worth considering if you want wool.

Annette Jones wrote:

Kathleen Sanderson wrote:I have two pretty cast iron teapots (I'll post Amazon links to them in a minute). The most recent one was purchased with four tiny little cups, a non-breakable tea set for my handicapped daughter; her toys all end up on the floor, so I didn't want to get china for her. (She's 45, not a small child.) I also have a SS kettle for heating water for making tea with tea bags, although, to be completely honest, I've found that my coffee maker also makes good tea, so I haven't been using the kettle much. It will come in handy in case of a power outage, though, when we have to heat water on the wood stove.

My daughter's tea set:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DDPZ7HNK?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1

The SS kettle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DFF5WPQ?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_5

And my cast iron teapot - I got the light green one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NBGH9Q9?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_3&th=1

Kathleen your daughter's set is so pretty and functional, thanks for including the link.
I have a disabled nephew who loves herbal teas and think he would love this one so I am getting it for him.
He is a disabled artist with Studio Artes and Little Umbrella (here in Australia), and was so taken with the colours in this little set he is painting it for his monthly art exhibition.
I bet your daughter just loves it too.

That is so cool! Thank you for sharing!  And yes, my daughter does love her tea set. She has just been keeping water in it, which she drinks throughout the day, and that's fine - it's getting used!

thomas rubino wrote:My new solid copper tea  kettle

That's gorgeous! I drooled over some copper teapots when I was looking for one, when I ended up with my SS kettle. But the really nice ones are out of my budget.

The other thing I would love to have someday (but probably never will) is a genuine wood-burning (or even coal or charcoal burning) samovar. They are kind of the original Kelly Kettle!

Gaurī Rasp wrote:I’ve had this glass teapot since I was in my teens. It’s particularly precious because my Mom gave it to me. I just love all things glass!

It's so nice to have, and treasure, something that your mother gave to you! I eyed the glass teapots with some longing when I was looking for one, but I'm so prone to breaking things...that's why I ended up with metal teapots, instead.

I would be happy to have garter snakes here (south-central Kentucky); they may exist in the area, but I haven't seen any. We did have a king snake cross the property a couple of years ago, but mostly don't see snakes at all on the place (a dead one on the highway once in a while is all). However. As much as I'd like to encourage the non-venomous snakes to hang around, there is NO WAY that I'm going to deliberately build snake habitat. We have copperheads, rattlesnakes, and water mocassins in the area, and I don't want ANY of those here! If there was any way to screen out the venomous ones while allowing the non-venomous ones in, I'd be glad to do it. There's also a big snapping turtle in our pond, which means no baby ducks. I'd love to trade the snapping turtle for one of the other kinds that are native to this area.

Much as it's good to encourage various kinds of wildlife, they aren't all unmitigated good.

I have two pretty cast iron teapots (I'll post Amazon links to them in a minute). The most recent one was purchased with four tiny little cups, a non-breakable tea set for my handicapped daughter; her toys all end up on the floor, so I didn't want to get china for her. (She's 45, not a small child.) I also have a SS kettle for heating water for making tea with tea bags, although, to be completely honest, I've found that my coffee maker also makes good tea, so I haven't been using the kettle much. It will come in handy in case of a power outage, though, when we have to heat water on the wood stove.

My daughter's tea set:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DDPZ7HNK?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1

The SS kettle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DFF5WPQ?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_5

And my cast iron teapot - I got the light green one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NBGH9Q9?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_3&th=1

Timothy Norton wrote:Could you possible do both to start? Your main business to start (or keep doing) would be your appliance repair business and you could dip your toes into the nursery business? This would at least keep income flowing for you as you figure out the ropes with plants. Then you can eventually transition fulltime into the nursery IF you find that you are having success.

I personally would have a hard time taking a risk when I have an almost guaranteed cash flow from something that I already am familiar with.

I also believe that you can successfully flesh out a nursery business on the side without too much overhead especially if you specialize in something such as fruit trees, bushes, or even something like native plants. I know of a local who only works with fig tree varieties and does well on Etsy.

This is basically what I was going to suggest - do both. Start with your repair business, and gradually grow into the plant business. I do have a thought for you, with regard to the repair business - try looking at it as a way of helping people, rather than just a way to make money. You have an opportunity to provide a needed service, which not only helps keep appliances working (and out of the landfill!), but also serves and helps people who may not be able to afford new appliances right now. (And shame on the companies that build appliances to basically be disposable, with such a short lifespan!) Both the repair business and the plant business are noble occupations, if you are able to look at them that way.

My only vehicle is a '97 F-250 Heavy Duty, 4WD, short-bed, extended cab (two doors with a bench seat in the back) pickup truck. I bought it when it was ten years old, so have been driving it for nineteen years now, and - as long as we can keep it running - I plan to continue driving it for the rest of my life, hopefully. Or until I can't drive anymore (I'm 68). I would have preferred a long bed, but even with the short bed, it can, and has, hauled a ton of hay at a time (and other than not being able to see through the rear-view mirror, you wouldn't have known there was anything back there). I've hauled trash to the transfer station, firewood, livestock, moved house with it (three times), carried nine small passengers down to the river to swim, and much more. When I got it, the 4WD was absolutely necessary where we lived, 46 miles from town in the high elevations of Klamath County, Oregon. I could live without the 4WD now, but am not going to trade the truck in just to get rid of that. Now I keep a cap on the bed, and store my animal feed in there; normally, I only go to town once or twice a month, so the 12 mpg isn't so hard to swallow.

If we lived in town, we could probably get by with a car of some kind - an SUV or minivan, probably. But if you have more land than a suburban lot, a pickup of some kind is really a necessity. If the whole world went back to using horsepower, or oxen, I'd be fine with that, but until that happens, I'll keep my ugly old truck. It's paid for, it runs, and, as little driving as I need to do most of the time, the mpg isn't an issue.

Quite honestly, I don't think the EV's are ecologically sound - I think they are LESS ecologically sound than a gas or diesel-powered vehicle, on several counts. Starting with the manufacture of those big batteries, through to the additional power plants needed to keep them charged, following up with disposing of the things when their life is over. I do WISH people would think things through, rather than just jumping on whatever faddish bandwagon is being touted as the newest, greatest thing to 'save the environment.' I could go on a nice, long rant on this topic (solar farms? Wind farms?), but let's just end with, a good old-fashioned pickup truck is one of the most useful tools you can have, and it's very appropriate for permaculture!

What I would do is fence nine acres of the ten for sheep - the sheep would produce both milk and meat (and wool, depending on what breed you decide to raise). In my climate, and probably also yours, you can run about four adult sheep per acre of land, with proper management.  On the one acre remaining, I would put my vegetable garden, some ducks (or chickens if you prefer, or both), and a shed for some caged rabbits. You said you also have some wooded land; I'd put moveable electric fence for pigs in the woods, and shift them regularly. You can plant widely spaced useful trees in the sheep pasture, and also, as you cut some trees in your woods, replace them with useful varieties. If you want, later, you could find a spot for a fish pond, or aquaculture tanks, but I would start with the other stuff first.

We get most of our calories from meat, some from dairy (we can't eat eggs, unfortunately). So as long as we are able to raise our meat, the plant foods are optional and mostly just provide some variety and seasonings. That's for our household.