Notes from the wilderness!!!

[joecool911]

We got chickens this year. 16 pullets. One turned out to be a rooster. Her name was Ginger. Now Gingerbread Man. But I call him Junior. They all use the same bathroom. Lol.

[Royal Squire]

11 hours ago, Me78569 said:

Greenhouse is doing it's work.  We harvested our first veggies this year.  2 split peas, some spinach and a boat load of rhubarb.   Within a week we should have some squash starting to show.  

The garlic is doing great also.   ( on the right, tall)

 

Our short list

- garlic

- beans

-peas

-tomato ( various)

- green / yellow / Patty pan squash

- cucumber

-strawberries

-raspberries

- asparagus 

- lettuces

- spinach

- small onion (whatever they are called)

- Brussel sprouts

 

Anyone else growing stuff?

Is your greenhouse home made?  We have talked about one, but haven't done anything yet 

[Hawkez]

16 is a good number.  I think I am up to a 100, but that will decrease to 70 in a couple of weeks.  I also have 5 turkeys that have been put on notice.  A few more pounds and they will be done.  We are up to 10 geese and they finally stopped laying eggs.  I have two incubators going with their eggs and they sell as soon as they hatch.  I always have a waiting list for goslings.  Next month our Thanksgiving and Christmas turkeys will arrive and we'll start that process.  My wife says that I have a problem, but I don't see it. 

[Me78569]

Yea homemade,

 

Pretty much it is 4 - 4x4 posts for the corners, and some 2x4 to attach it all together with some 6 mil plastic around the outside.  

 

HOWEVER just buy one,  It will be cheaper ( when you include time) to just buy it and it will look better.  We will be upgrading to this.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ShelterLogic-Grow-It-Greenhouse-10ft-W-x-10ft-L-x-8ft-H-Model-70656-/311597106984?hash=item488ca28728:g:MdsAAOSwVL1WDZTG

 

 

I really cannot wait until I have enough land to get a good 20 x 40 green house.  

[Royal Squire]

My wife thinks I can build anything with nothing. Gonna try and talk her into buying one. Thanks for the info 

[Me78569]

Yep, 

 

Been there done that I will buy them from now on.  You simply cannot buy thicket enough plastic to do the job over the course of a few years.  

 

 

That plus the roof, it has to be made of something stronger to keep from getting holes.  IF you put into it how much plastic roofing costs you will win the argument ANY day of the week.   Just the roof alone for our 10 x 12 would have been ~$300 I think.  

[Royal Squire]

We have had good luck with squash in the garden but not much else. Poor soil and gets pretty chilly at night. My brother gave us some tomato and pepper sets last summer that my wife made sort of a plastic tent for. They did pretty well but really hard to make the plastic last. 

[dripley]

We planted a little garden this year. It has been a while for me. A few tomato plants of various types, couple of pepper plants,  some herbs and one pimento plant. Not sure about the last but we are going to have some. 

[JAG1]

It's difficult to beat the flavor of fresh vegies. We have so many deer that I converted an old dog kennel I got for 50 bucks into a planting area inside. I supported a sprinkler above head height with an old pipe across the fencing so it waters like rain. Also we have so many gophers and moles I had to put in a floor to block them from going underneath the ground. We have 9 walk around raised beds inside the kennel because raised bed get a bit warmer for good growth. Next year we have to replace the floor with something that won't rot. Was thinking aluminum but too expensive/ extravagant.... any ideas on a floor?

[dripley]

Of the top of my head I would be thinking concrete cap block. I think I have seen them as thin as 2" or maybe some cheap patio pavers. Aint gotta be pretty just undigable.

[Buzzinhalfdozen]

I see used or leftover metal roofing for sale all the time on CL for cheap. If it lasts 30-40 years on a roof should still last a long time underground. 

Edited June 25, 2016 by Buzzinhalfdozen

[JAG1]

I thank you guys. I like the metal roofing since it would block the weeds because of way it overlaps. To make it a good floor for walking between the raised boxes I would need to get gravel and grade it perfect then lay the metal down. This works too because the raised boxes are only good for about one more year.

 

You know.... I try organic gardening but it's so slow. So now I found an organic fertilizer and man what a difference in growth. Plants are getting strong and twice the size in two weeks.

[dripley]

Out today with the wife looking for things to plant in the bed I ripped the bushes out of yesterday and my wife finds a dwarf peach tree. It only grows about 4 feet high and looks pretty cool in the picture. So now we are peach farmers too. The bush already has half a dozen peaches growing on it.

[JAG1]

That is a good idea. Wife brought home peaches the other day. I can say they are really very good for your body.

 

So Dave, in a few weeks we'll get a pic of a wood sign carved, 'Driply Farms' ?

[hex0rz]

This is a long term solution I have planned for the future. 

 

 

 

You also want to go with the reinforced plastic instead. Many construction sites will use it to close out a hole so they can keep the heat in while building in the winter. 

 

Here's an example:

 

https://goo.gl/images/k2xvr2

 

https://goo.gl/images/5hWwxh

 

Many job sites will throw the stuff away after using it. Bricklayers are notorious for using it to close off their scaffolding as they lay brick and need to heat the area to allow the mortar to set. 

Edited June 27, 2016 by hex0rz

[Hawkez]

We ended up processing 21 chickens and 5 turkeys on Saturday.  We had some neighbors come over and we taught them how to do it.  I enjoy seeing that realization in other people's faces when the see how doable this is.  We made a few changes to our Hill Billy equipment.  In the past we heated the scalding water over a fire.  That requires a lot of attention to keep it within a few degrees of the desired temperature.  Another issue we were having was my boys are too small to scald the turkeys on their own.  They are too heavy to lift and dunk in the hot pot of water so we came up with this new piece.  I built it over a turkey fryer burner.  It takes about 45 minutes to get the water to 140*, not too bad at all.  And it was so much easier to maintain a constant temp.  The boys don't need my help scalding the birds which allows the process to go faster.  What do you think?

 

[Mopar1973Man]

Nicely designed setup. So what are you selling the meat per pound? I might have to buy one of your "Ranch raised chickens"...

[Hawkez]

1 minute ago, Mopar1973Man said:

Nicely designed setup. So what are you selling the meat per pound? I might have to buy one of your "Ranch raised chickens"...

We've never sold the chickens.  We try to put 90 chickens in the freezer each year and that keeps us from buying anything from the grocery store.  My boys sell turkeys for thanksgiving and Christmas each year, that is all we ever sell.  Though, if you ever find yourself down this way I can send you away with a chicken. 

[Mopar1973Man]

9 hours ago, Hawkez said:

Though, if you ever find yourself down this way I can send you away with a chicken. 

 

I'd be willing to pay money for it even.. Gotta be 100 times better than any store bought chicken...

[Mopar1973Man]

Now it's my time to shine... While you all are doing animal husbandry I'm growing fruit.

 

 

Here is a nearly a full gallon bucket of raspberries... Yummy!

 

 

Now on to the blackberries... Ohhhhh... Yeah!

 

Edited July 5, 2016 by Mopar1973Man