Davis Bonk

Monocreature production doesn't seem very permanent to me.  I think a large animal to cause disturbance is essential.   Salatin has shown cows to be very good companions to chickens, but I'm not a big fan of anything that can kill me.  I have a pet pig I keep with our chickens.  It was too nice and I couldn't butcher it but I did butcher the rest. Turns out pigs get lonely and enjoy the companionship of chickens.  If your not after meat I would say a mini mule or mini donkey because they hate predators. Might as well have some meat goats if you have someone to protect them but they will browse things you may not want them to.  If wild deer and elk frequent the area it may help maintain a healthy ecosystem.

Chickens are descended from jungle fowl which is not very pasture or even Savannah oriented.  I would try prairie chickens or another type of grouse native to the U.S. It's too bad most of their habitat has been plowed up, and what hasn't has been taken over by the invasive Chinese ring necked pheasant.  I think if your gonna raise foreign birds at least use the diet of native birds to inform what flora should be encouraged.

We have seventeen turkeys and we are planning on keeping the majority of them.  it is a mixed flock of slate and royal palm. We received them in the mail in July.  there are at least two toms of each variety, actually around 7 have been showing male traits.  We are planning on hatching our own eggs and then selling the offspring as meat.  We feed them gamebird feed and they free range the majority of their diet. the rains have been steady so our property has not desiccated into a fire hazard so i have not mowed all year.  the grasshoppers were once thick but the turkeys are clearing them out.  they are also eating a lot of mature grass seed.

The main concern is overwintering.  i have a rabbit herd and they have already taken to roosting in that barn, which is nice because there is an underground water line from our pressure tank in the basement  that runs to a spigot that works all year as long as i have heat tape on it.  We are in zone 4 Minnesota. there are some wild turkeys around but the winter seems to be a little harsh for a large native population to establish. we never really had them until the last decade. (thanks global warming). we also had possums for a quick bit but that polar vortex a few years ago snuffed em out around here.  Any advice on keeping these large birds happy in a building for long periods?

my other concern is how big of a flock is manageable. if we keep 8 hens an they each have 8 that's 64 turkeys and that is a large amount of land needed to raise them if its entirely free range.  Also how many Toms is too many?

i couldnt help but notice a lack of turkey posts on this forum and i am curious why.  is it that people start with chickens and are afraid of blackhead?  because i think that is overhyped.  hatcheries ship turkeys and chickens together.  blackhead is from a parasite not a virus and it comes from the soil, so in order to get it you need it present in your area to begin with. call your extension i guess.  otherwise i feel that turkeys are more permaculture than chix for meat, but the other way if you want eggs.  i will likely be proven wrong after i feed them over the winter.  

Osprey


http://www.ospreypacks.com/us/en/customer-support/all-mighty-guarantee

Lifetime warranty by this company.  My first choice for performance, but they are an investment. Then again you get what you pay for.

I have been trying to establish plots at other peoples farms to spread out the production in case of bad weather events. Out here the thunderstorms can wash seedlings out sometimes and the hail usually falls in bands and isn't throughout the storm. It's also nice to have a change of scenery and be around different people.

Another thing is one could get a support network of local growers that agree to help secure produce in the event of a disaster so no one loses customers or goes hungry.

+Low tunnels

As a young vegetable grower I hear people say "if you save seeds they won't be true to type" that is the general mindset. (Mostly because the "standard" varieties are F1) This creates a fear of wasted effort and less profit. This is largely because of CSA cookie cutter boxes where things must be uniform. If we do away with this model and promote more direct sale custom growing; then the new breeds will follow.

I was thinking of hauling rocks or bricks in and out from my wood stove after the mass heats up and set the water on that.

Is there a better material?
I'm guessing there's a type of cement out there that is lighter and holds more heat in and releases it slower than cinder blocks.

They could also be heated in solar ovens.

This is VERY labor intensive though.

Edit: I'm not sure if the days will be long enough to work with solar when the heat would be most needed.

I'm planning on covering it when it cools in the fall and things start getting frosty and. hopefully I'll have a warm mass that slowly releases heat.

I should also mention this is zone 4 MN. But back to the original topic. Does anyone have any objections to calling it a hugelarium?

I tilled really early to try and warm the soil. I tilled again last night to try and get ahead of the grass. I lifted part of the plastic up in hopes my chickens will find the green grass. Note the part along the fence is still snowy even though it was the first thing I tilled. The fence is the southern border and casts a good shadow. The strips on the right are where I planted potatoes and hilled them with a hoe. It's crazy how the cool soil from below holds snow and the stuff that baked in the sun melted it off

Micro climates with no snow