Connor Leigh

I want to see a happy ending to this incredible project! Any updates?

I'm thinking about getting ducklings and I'm realizing I might be a little late, However we have very mild winters here, daytime temps will rarely be below 50, and nighttime temps are rarely below 32.

What I'm wondering is, and what I have had a hard time answering with the research I've done is: How long do I have to rear them inside? I know the answer already   -it depends, so what I'm looking for is help in estimating the time to see if I should just wait until spring. My biggest concern is that I have a small house, with a small room and 5 roommates so 8wks would be the maximum amount of time I would want them to be inside.

I read somewhere that they suggested keeping them inside for 12 weeks. 3 months! That sounds absurd to me.

Weather averages for my area: Arcata, CA

Oct: High:60, Low 45
Nov:High:58, low 42
(It is likely to have some nights in the high 30's, unlikely but possible to have some freezes)


I appreciate all help and shared knowledge!

Connor

Tyler,
Thanks for sharing, I am glad I have that info in my brain now!

Tyler Ludens wrote:

Connor Leigh wrote:
You could even do a terrace of beds, hugelkultur or not, each along a contour down your slope to help slow, spread and sink your water/fertility.

Not recommended to put hugelkultur on contour.  http://permaculturenews.org/2015/11/06/dont-try-building-hugel-swales-this-is-a-very-and-i-mean-very-bad-idea/

Good article, yet I don't think there is real potential for disaster from what I know of Megan(OP)'s situation. Your article confirms that on a small scale that 'hugel swales' could work fine.

"Can you make small hugel like beds on contour safely? Yep I have done so on my own property, the majority of the wood is below grade, the mounds on contour only account for about 2,000 square feet and the hills are only 36 inches wide and were built to about 24 inches high. They were annually cropped for a season then successed to become a small orchard. The total catchment they take water from is only about 5,000 square feet and there are no “ditches” just contour paths between their four rows."

His example is even larger than the situation in question.

Hey Tim, I'm curious how your homestead is going. I'm out here in the Arcata bottoms. Im curious what you have been having success with. Did you ever plant seaberries?

Chris and Cassie made a lot of good points that I agree with.

Here would be a draft game plan that I might use.

1) Water and then till or loosen the soil with a shovel, but avoid turning the soil over. If your soil is really as hard as you say it is then sheet mulching alone will just take too long.

2) Heavy mulch with woodchips / leaves/ other organic matter. This will create a paradise for a bugs, fungi, and bacteria that will essentially digest your soil and improve it in countless ways beyond loosening it up.

3) Plant tons of daikon radish, or something similar, as a cover crop, and let most of it rot in your soil. This is a really quick way to aerate, loosen, and add oodles of organic matter to your soil, and still glean a bit of a harvest.

Step 1.5 could be to add a micro-swale above your garden beds to slow the water and prevent all of your hard earned organic matter and nutrients from washing away.


I would also consider doing some hugelkultur!

You could even do a terrace of beds, hugelkultur or not, each along a contour down your slope to help slow, spread and sink your water/fertility.

Devin Lavign wrote:

A 5 gallon icecream container

Just something about pooping into an icecream container gives me a.... s#@%  eating grin.

Mike Jay wrote: You might want to add some diagonal bracing to resist wind or sideways forces.  Especially on the door side where you won't have the piece going across 3' off the ground.

You probably have plans for this but be sure to fix/patch/waterproof that hole in the side of your house on the NW side of the greenhouse before you can't get at it anymore.

I'd make some plans for ventilation in the summer.  70 degrees and sunny will most likely still cause an inferno of plant death

Yes I think I will do all of these things. I think one big vent that spans the length of the greenhouse at the top should do it for ventilation + an open door.

My crazy garden

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