Dennis Barrow

A bit of a back story:  We had 4 hens go broody that we didn't know about. Over a 3 week period we had an extra 15 or so extra birds.  (2 more did this since then, 12 more chicks).
Our back yard is fenced to keep the chickens and deer out.  One of this springs chicks found out she could fly over the fence.  The wife had a large bird feeding area and the spilt seed grows wild underneath the feeders.  This chicken is in there everyday eating at the sprouting seeds.
Here is what I am noticing with this chicken, she is visibly larger than the others that are her age.  The only difference between her and the others is all the sprouts.
I will be culling about 20 chickens this next month.  Will be checking her weight against the others then.

I have a screened shelf I made, 2' x 8', that I suspended from the ceiling of my garage to dry various veggies on.  (I am in what is called:  "high desert", so quite dry).
For the last couple years I have taken a dozen or so large sunflower heads and let them dry there and doled them out to the birds over the winter.  I cut the heads off with about a foot of stalk and use that to tie it up and that lets it hang down and the birds do their thing.

I always leave several sunflowers to just do their thing in the garden.  Some do fall over during the winter, so don't.  Vary few have seed in the heads come spring.

A couple of decades ago I picked up a coffee can full of the "hook and eye" latches at a garage sale.  I have used them all.  I have found that several of the latches need to be readjusted almost every year because of the shifting of the gates with the weather.

On my chicken coop door I have a simple 2x4 about 12 inches long with just one screw in it so it swivels shut to keep the door closed.  The "latch" is fairly tight so it doesn't fall closed on its own.  But the coop door swings open on its own when unlatched so not afraid of getting locked in.  

A few years ago I searched for homemade gate latch ideas.  It was a fun rabbit hole to go down.  Must have spent 3 or 4 hours one evening looking at all the various ways to build them.

I have 10 acres that is 2 wide and 5 long.  The 2 wide starts at the road and climbs the mtn.   Just under 250 foot elevation gain.
The only flat areas are what we have created, though the lower couple acres by the road are only 10 to 15 foot elevation gain from the road then it gets a bit steeper.  I have a couple walking trails that zig zag through the woods going up.  (I let one of my sons build an off grid home towards the top of the property, what a view he has).
My Dad was able to visit a few years ago and he told me my land was pretty much flat, just not horizontally flat.  That sounds like that  Terry Pratchett knew what was what.
(Ok, going down the google rabbit hole now, gotta learn about this Terry Pratchett person).

My dad bought a couple of Honda 50cc step through bikes when I was in the 4th grade.   Been riding ever since.

I have owned 15 or so different motorcycles over the years and I believe I am at around 600,000 miles, countless tires and plenty of bugs in the teeth.

I am 73 now and still riding, but not as much as I would like to.  I have a 2 mile rough dirt road to pavement and that makes me think twice about going out.  

Currently have a Yamaha Royal Star Midnight Venture, big touring bike.   Hit the road, turn the cruise control on and go, go, go!!!

About 6 years ago I decided that Facebook was taking up to much of my time with 90% worthless drivel.  ( Member here since 2014).
I did not totally quit FB as my wife is on it a lot using it as a way to stay in contact with friends and she "tags" me with stuff once in awhile.
So what did I do with that hour or so a day I free'd up???

PERMIES !!!

I made the best choice ever.  I have learned so much.  When I have a question about something I probably should do here on my homestead, I search the forums.  The thing is with the forums here is the comments from people that have tried different ways of doing things and many people admitting the failures from attempts and what they did to change it.  (I may spend more time on the computer with Permies that I did with FB).

You search the internet and get a variety of ways to do something, but don't see the successes and failures of those actions unless you really dig deep.

I wanted to say thanks to Paul for getting Permies going!!

My grandfather taught me to take care of all tools.
I am still using many of his tools and tools I have gotten over the years.   Some are over 100 years old.
My biggest procrastination on tools is wooden handles.  I am a few years behind sanding the handles and giving them a coat of lindseed oil.

My wife and I have been fortunate to travel a bit, not much but enough to have gotten the travel bug.
We have tried salsa's in everyplace we have gone to.
St Croix, Antigua, Mexico, Costa Rica and Hawaii.
Each place used a lot of local fruits and veggies in their salsa's.
So here at home when we make it, it consists of:   walking through the supermarket.... Oooo, I bet that would be good in salsa and what ever is available from the garden.

One of my son's has a composting toilet and uses saw dust for that.
A year ago he went to a local sawmill to get a yard of sawdust, (couple years worth for him), They had a large end loader and tried to dump a yard onto his dump trailer, the operator wasn't to careful and dumped 4 to 5 yards.  They only charged him for 1.  
I have been using the sawdust for paths, ground cover around some plants, etc.
We have a lot of wild lupine here and this spring a dozen plants started in the sawdust pile.  I transplanted a couple to other areas and let the rest go to seed on the pile.

Chance Lunceford wrote:

Dennis Barrow wrote:I have 3 raised beds I grow strawberries in.  This year, one of the beds has had a serious decline of plants and no runners from them.  This bed was the most prolific of them all last year.   I am thinking there is some type of virus in it.  The beds are all 20 feet apart.

I was planning on replacing this bed this winter with a new one as it is starting to fall apart.  I am thinking I will not plant strawberries in the new bed as any virus in the soil would probably transfer to new plants.  I guess I will build 2 more beds, one with new soil for new strawberry plants.

This sounds like a job for crop rotation. You could have 5-6 beds and switch 1-2 out every year, then grow annual vegetables in the 2-3 empty beds.

Chance, I do crop rotation on everything BUT strawberries and perennial herbs.  I do agree that it may be time to rotate my strawberries into different beds.