Unchained Preppers
General Category => Sustenance => Topic started by: JohnyMac on February 22, 2016, 10:20:07 AM
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With the apparent early arriving of spring this year (The rodent may have been correct) my interests have moved towards this years garden and looking at getting back into raising heirloom turkeys.
So with that written lets get your thoughts and deeds as we start out the year on vegetable garden and any husbandry projects you might have.
Let me start: I started my pepper seeds last week.
I tend to start pepper seeds first and early typically in February due to their slow growth rate. I planted the following pepper seeds:
> Scotch Bonnet (Very hot)
> Anaheim (Medium hot AKA Hungarian pepper)
> Chocolate Habanero (Very Hot)
> Loren Green (Sweet)
> Bull nose (Sweet)
You can cann peppers but I typically cut them in half, remove the seeds, put them on a cookie sheet and flash freeze them. Once frozen then we pack them into Ziploc bags. Throughout this winter while sweet peppers were going for $1.99-$2.99 a pound, I scoffed and pulled peppers from our freezer. :dance:
I typically grow 18 sweet pepper plants and 2-3 for each for hot pepper. I plant like-kind pepper plants together as they need to cross population. I also keep pepper plants segregated as all ready mentioned, they cross pollinate and I want to keep the strains as pure as possible.
So what are you up to?
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Just a quick review on JohnyMac's old garden.
Our garden is 2,000 sq feet. The garden is 1/5 raised beds and 4/5 direct sow. Each plant is grown in a 4x8' rectangle (think grid) which run west/ east to allow the most sun of the day to benefit the growth. With that written we have 20 beds and three raised beds with ~ size of 4X 16' each. Keep in mind you need 1,000 sq ft produce enough food for one person.
There is ~18" walk space between each rectangle - Again think of a grid.
We do not use black growing plastic/paper however this year I will be using it because we commute to our house in RI several times a year for weeks at a time during the height of the summer. When we get back to the cabin I will spend all of my time weeding. Not this year!
Our garden is fenced-in with electrical wire to keep deer and small critters away. One of the strands of wire is ~ 4-6" above the ground to keep out rabbits. The posts we use are the step 'n post which we buy at Tractor Supply as needed. The wire is the standard temporary cattle electric wire (Yellow and black strands) which we buy at T&S too. This wire starts to breakdown after 4-5 years due to the sun's uv.
Last, this is what I am planning on growing this year:
> Snap peas * > Potatoes + > Basil * > Pop Corn +
> Bush beans * > Tomatoes + > Zucchini * > Rose Mary *
> Lettuce * - Brandy-wine > Yellow Squash + > Cilantro *
> Radish * - Amish (like Roma) + > Spanish Onions * > Dill *
> Swiss chard * - Cherokee + > Casaba melons + > Sage +
> Carrot * > Pickling Cuc's + > Acorn squash + > Butternut squash +
> Wax beans + > Salad Cuc's + > Field pumpkins + > Three varieties of hot peppers +
> Lima beans * > Sweet Peppers + > Water melon + > Turnips *
* = Store Bought heirloom seeds
+ = Seeds from past gardens I or a neighbor has saved
Whats your plans?
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I've got 6 dozen lettuces started in flats from last year's seed, they should be ready to go in the ground in a couple of weeks.. It feels early and it might be but I've got the cloth to cover them already on the rows. I'll do a replacement flat ever two weeks until mid March.. cause those bad boys are gonna get ate!
I got 6 dozen tomato in flats on Monday too!
This weekend I'm gonna set out the onions and get the cans set for potatoes.. always moving..
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Great start TG :thumbsUp:
I am going to try something new this year. Instead of the typical black ground covering you buy in rolls to keep weeds at bay I am going to buy a roll of Newsprint (https://www.packagingsupplies.com/Newsprint_Rolls.html) paper.
My experience is the stuff never lasts from one season to the next. Then I have to pull it out of the garden piece by piece. The newsprint is just cheap paper and will decompose over the season and winter. Then just get roto tilled back into the soil.
Thoughts?
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I am thinking of getting some chickens this spring. My neighbors have chickens and we mostly get our eggs from them. I was thinking of starting out small, lets say 6 hens and no roosters.
I would appreciate any thoughts from this lustrous group.
> Type
> chicken coop plans
> Other
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I'm all about the news print idea, I was actually going to recommend it for weed control because it handles it!
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I am thinking of getting some chickens this spring. My neighbors have chickens and we mostly get our eggs from them. I was thinking of starting out small, lets say 6 hens and no roosters.
I would appreciate any thoughts from this lustrous group.
> Type
> chicken coop plans
> Other
My wife and i looked at several plans and settled on 6" gravel base with shed on it - modified as a coop. i used deck brackets to hold the roosts - makes it easy to slide a 2x4 out for cleaning. my wife lays the boards flat (wide side up) in the winter so the birds cover their feet while roosting in the winter. i used thick outdoor paint on the floor to protect it. as it was drying i sprinkled playground sand on it for traction. 3 coats all around to keep the wood protected. make sure it is well ventilated - i have a ridge vent running the length of the coop. no drafts but the coop stays dry. the full sized door makes cleaning easy for a person who doesn't like bending over very far. it makes it easy for collecting the eggs too. the coop litter gets composted and makes great garden soil.
- one of our neighbors made theirs out of a trailer shell looks hokey but it works.
beware of chicken math!
http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/635341/understanding-chicken-math (http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/635341/understanding-chicken-math)
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Thx Kbop for the site recommendation.
Here (http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hen-hideout) is a coop design that has me thinking.
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No Johny, no! You're better than that! Frame up a nice little coop with an exterior egg box so you don't have to bother the ladies.
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No Johny, no! You're better than that! Frame up a nice little coop with an exterior egg box so you don't have to bother the ladies.
All access is from the outside on that design. There's no need to ever enter the coop.
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LOL. Open to suggested plans gentlemen. ;)
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Wood, make it out of wood. Hehe, I'll look for plans tomorrow when I'm at my desktop.
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Thanks TG.
Back at the cabin.
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Got slammed at work yesterday, today may be your lucky day!
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http://www.homegrownfoodsummit.com/ (http://www.homegrownfoodsummit.com/)
i watched these presentations last year. I learned a bit - figured i'de share.
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Thx Kbop.
Would you take a minute to explain? Do you sign up and then receive a presentation? If that is correct how much does it cost? Thx
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Thx Kbop.
Would you take a minute to explain? Do you sign up and then receive a presentation? If that is correct how much does it cost? Thx
you sign up - no cost. you can watch the videos when they are presented - no cost.
if you want the DVD or thumbdrive or access after the seminar is over - you pay.
i got the hay bale garden idea and some of my potato cage idea from them.
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Thx, I am signing up. Free = Good ;)
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Planted my sugar snap peas on Saturday. Twenty eight feet, ~ 112 seeds. Once these come in, harvested and then played out (About mid to late June) I will then clean that ground out and plant wax pole beans for an early fall harvest.
My pepper seedlings are doing poorly. I lost half of my seedlings to pests (The cats) so I replanted on Friday. This week I will plant my tomato and onion seeds.
Next week I will plant my cucumbers seeds.
Just as a side note: I start my seedling's in peat moss cups - Four seeds to a cup. There are 18 cups to a tray and I put the tray's onto a heated growing mat. The cups are covered with saran wrap until the seeds sprout. I use 4' long grow lights to augment the sun coming in through the windows.
Once the seedling's have a second growth of leaves I transplant them to their own peat moss cup.
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Hi all! I'm just doing a drive-by pop in to see what's up on the board and saw this thread. Hope you are all doing well! (Heads up this is going to be a long one - I love talking chickens!)
I cannot recommend chickens highly enough - I *love* our chickens. We have the newest batches of chicks in brooders in the basement. This is our third year doing chickens and I enjoy it greatly. Not only are the eggs tasty (and even three years in I still grin when I walk by the eggs in the grocery store), but I love watching my little dinosaurs. They're fascinating! We have the new chicks down in the basement. I actually built new brooders this year (I had been using a "puppy playpen", but it was inconvenient, hard to reach across, and didn't have enough room). The cool thing is they're modular, so when I take them apart after the babies move outside they'll stack flat.
We get our birds from Murray McMurray. We order online and the post office ships. The last two years shipping has been great, easy and quick. This year it took two days and we lost two chicks. I think my mistake was picking delivery after Easter weekend - since it's not one of my holy days it never even occurred to me that that date was a holiday. So between the hatchery and the post office likely being closed that weekend, I'm sure that was the delay. But everyone else arrived peeping and hearty.
This year we have 14 layers (would have had 15, but lost one yesterday - no idea from what, that's the hard thing about chicks) and 20 broilers. Last year we did straight run heritage chickens and butchered the roos, but they took over three months to get to butcher weight and even then some of the carcasses were only a pound. This year I got a Cornish Cross for our broilers, aka Frankenchicken. I had to call my farmer mentor who raises this breed for market and check in to make sure there was nothing wrong with these chicks. Unless they're eating, they're laying down - apparently it's totally normal for Cornish X, but for the heritage breeds with which I am familiar it's bizarre behavior. They also really can't live much past 12 weeks, at least not comfortably/in health. However, they should butcher our at 3 - 4 lbs at 8 weeks (though I may give it 10 weeks and then we'd get 5 - 7 lbs).
As for egg layers, I cannot recommend Easter Eggers (aka Americaunas or sometimes wrongly identified as the purebred Arucauna) enough. They're flighty birds, meaning they can be a little hard to get a hold of if you need to give meds or check something, but they're reliable layers and pretty self-sufficient. We have two in the coop right now and three babies in the brooder. I am also a huge fan of Buff Orpingtons and Black Australorps for their good dispositions and reliable laying. These are some seriously friendly birds and their eggs are good sized. Do be aware that both breeds can get broody, though (want to sit on eggs), which can be dangerous to their health if it goes too long. Rhode Island Reds and Barred Rocks were both decent breeds, too, though not nearly as friendly as the Orps and 'Lorps.
Breeds I'm not so fond of: Silver Spangled Hamburg - these are tiny birds and they lay tiny eggs. I was looking for a white egg layer and wanted to try this pretty heritage breed, but found out they're darn near bantam size! (We're trying the rose comb brown leghorn for white eggs this year and we'll see how they turn out.) Delawares - these had a great reputation online, and ours have been decent, but they're not as friendly or as reliable as I was given to expect.
We've had a few other breeds, but they're not really notable for either being exceptional or problematic, so not worth pointing out, IMHO, except for the Golden Wyandotte and the Salmon Faverolle, both of whom were just beautiful birds and beauty isn't exactly a necessary trait for a homestead bird.
I highly recommend hand raising your hens, and letting a hen raise any roo you might want to keep. I hand raised my first flock and the roosters were the meanest sons of bitches (pardon my language) it's ever been my misfortune to deal with. It was a joy to butcher those two - I still have scars from being attacked by them. However, my hen-raised roos didn't imprint on me and therefore don't see me as a challenger when I go in the coop/yard. I am going to butcher at least one of my roos - since we're not free-ranging they're really not necessary. I may keep one in case I get a wild hare and try to raise our own next spring instead of ordering, but two is too many for the number of hens we have and my poor girls are showing it.
Free-ranging is awesome, but dangerous. We lost four hens in two months to a bloody hawk and I was seriously tempted to shoot that bugger, but a) it's a felony, and b) there's a mated pair and I just couldn't do it when it might cause some chicks to be abandoned. We also have a bald eagle in the neighborhood - it flew across the road right in front of me the other day! We're keeping our flock in a large, comfy run, and we get some high-quality, soy-free feed from a farmer about 45 minutes away, so the eggs are still pretty tasty, but not as good as free-range eggs.
I do recommend a walk-in coop like Kbop was describing - mine is similar. Yeah, you get dusty, but you can keep a much closer eye on your flock's status and you know when it's time to change out the bedding. :) For the broilers I use what's called a chicken tractor - it's a movable coop. I built it from 2x4s for the base and the roosts and PVC for the frame. I attached a rope and drag it from spot to spot so the birds have fresh grass every day. I should move the broilers out to the tractor at around 4 weeks, from what I've read. We'll see how soon they feather out.
As for the garden, we've had an cold spring here, after a run of lovely warm weather. I've got lots started in our sunroom, broccoli, peppers, asparagus (I'm planning on putting them in a permanent bed), celery, and tomatoes. I also have lots of other stuff that will be direct seeded as soon as it's warm enough. I have some berry bushes that I planted during the irrational exuberance of the warm spell. I've had soda-bottle cloches on them since the cold snap started, and so far I think they're still alive. We'll see. We're doubling the size of the garden this year by adding three raised beds to the existing three. I'm amending the soil of the existing with a manure/compost mix we purchased (thanks to the bloody hawk, our compost pile won't be usable for at least six months since I buried my hens in the compost and they need time to decompose/turn into dirt). We also ordered a top soil/mushroom soil mix and have a big pile of it to fill up the new boxes once they're put together. We have the wood, but as soon as we got the wood, the bad weather set in.
I'm doing well, as are Mr. WPW, the dog and the two cats (I rescued a kitten last summer, so we're a two-cat household now - it's been an adjustment for all of us :). Work has been keeping me busy, and I've been doing lots around the farmstead to get the garden ready for the spring. I've also finally implemented the physical fitness program I'd wanted to do and have lost nearly 100 lbs. I'm having a lot easier of a time doing farm chores and I can walk five miles and be only a little tired after. (I've even run a couple 5K races!) Definitely one of the best preparedness things I've ever done! Anywho, that's the report from Windy Acres. Hope you're all well! I'll putter around a few other threads - I don't know how often I'll be back on the board. Life keeps me hopping, but I do check in on occasion. :D
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GREAT update Willie! And I have to admit I have missed your veggie and husbandry posts.
Some questions:
1) I see you have 14 layers: ~ how many eggs on the avergae do you get per week?
2) I like your plan of butchering all roosters.
3) Have you thought of using a movable coop/tractor coop for your hens?
4) What bedding do you use for the coop? Straw? Wood chips? What else?
5) Do you have or know of any free coop plans?
6) I see you are starting asparagus inside. I have never heard of that and would appreciate your thoughts. I have only
read about starting asparagus in the early spring outside or even early fall.
7) I am glad you are starting to use raised beds. I love mine. Seems to add 4 - 6 weeks to my growing season. A couple
up front and a couple at the end of the growing season.
8) ~ how many sqft will your garden be this year?
On another note: I am glad that you are executing on your PT. One of the main things preppers and none preppers miss out on is PT. When the SHTF and it will, you and your family & friends number one item to combat the stressful change that will happen in our bodies.
Thanks :cheers:
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1) We currently have 11 layers and get 6 - 8 eggs/day, but 7 of those layers are 2 years old, so they're not as reliable as they were last year. Those 7 will be butchered for dog meat this fall. (Though I'll miss my first flock gals!) The 14 new gals should start laying probably in September or October.
3) I thought about a movable coop for the hens back when we started, but at that time we were going to free-range and so decided a stable base-of-operations was the better option. I may revisit that question later.
4) I use straw. The coop takes one bale every two to three months. I can usually get it for $9 - $12 at TSC or Home Depot. I know I could get it WAY cheaper if I found a farm source, but it's easy and convenient to stop in at a store and when you consider it's one bale for three months that's still pretty cheap in the grand scheme of things.
5) Google is your friend for free coop plans. I don't know of any in particular since we used a shed design. I decided to modify a shed because that's what my farmer mentor used and I liked how roomy it was - lots of room for more birds if we want. I did get Little Giant nest boxes to hang on the walls.
6) This is my first time starting asparagus from seed - or planting it at all - so I'll have to get back to you on how it turns out! I do know it'll be three years before we can harvest. I look at this as an investment much like our fruit trees will be when we get around to planting them.
7) We have nearly 1,200 square feet divided between seven beds, plus an area for potatoes and another area for berry bushes. I'm not sure of the total garden area. However, I did fence with metal this year so if we do let the chickens out to free range they won't be able to rip into the garden like they did last year!
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Thx Wellie for your time.
Our garden is about 1,200 sf too total. With about 1,000 sf of actual planting space.
We have another small garden ~ 250 sf separate from the main garden used for MrsMac's flowers and herbs. A happy wife makes a good life ;)
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Turned one of our raised beds this AM. Tomorrow (Thurs) I will plant lettuce, radishes and turnips in that space.
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Cut down four sugar maple trees that cast a shadow part of the day across th garden. I got about 1 cored of wood ready to split. Yeah (Not) the wood cutting, splitting and stacking commences...AGAIN.
A bit behind on my vegetable planting "punch list", I planted my first batch of lettuce and radishes yesterday. Along with the lettuce and radishes I planted rutabagas seed. In two weeks I will plant turnips. Both are great storage vegetables.
Two weeks ago I planted Martha Washington Asparagus seed in my seedling growing area. They are just starting to sprout. The plan is to move the seedling's to the asparagus bed in early June.
Moved my tomato and pepper seedlings out to my impromptu green house. I will add a subject line to my green house which I really like on a later subject line. The temps at night are still down in the 30's here at the BOL. So I have added a small electric heater. Set it for low which keeps the green house in the mid 50's at night.
My vegetable mentor is hardening off his tomato seedling's too and never worries about the outside temps unless a freeze is immanent. Then he pulls his flats and takes them inside. I am just too chicken to do that. :(
My sugar snap peas are sprouting. With about an 80% success rate. I will wait till next week and if I still have some blank space I will plant some more seed in the holes.
In closing...The garlic I planted in October is doing GREAT. The mild winter has really kick started those little devils.
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Sounds nice, JM! We've been pretty busy the last week around the garden and homestead. The three new garden beds are built and I'm starting to fill them with dirt, but that's a long manual process! We also are mulching the paths in the garden with wood chips that the power company provided. I just called them and told them that we could take any wood chips they have next time they were in the area trimming trees. Lo and behold a week or so ago they showed up and dumped a huge pile of wood chips for us! Free mulch! So I've been carting that into the garden as well.
We've even started planting, even though we're still a little bit before our official last frost date. So far we've got broccoli, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, radishes, celery, and the asparagus in. As soon as I finish filling the new beds I'll get the rest of the seeds in.
Chicks are growing. The Cornish crosses are HUGE - at least double the size of the layers. I did lose one of the Cornish crosses to an impacted crop. Poor thing. But, that happens.
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I like your mulch/path plan. :thumbsUp: I am thinking of planting a rye cover crop on my paths. I use the same seed for the field in the fall as a cover crop. A lady who I have been in communication with at Penn State suggested it. She said just let it grow and use a weed wacker on any blades over 3". My garden mentor uses freshly cut lawn grass for his paths.
I am on limited work restrictions from my local BOL doctor. I strained one of my stomach muscles three weeks ago cutting down, splitting and stacking some trees blocking the sun over my garden. Re-aggravated it this past weekend after a weekend of work on the cabin with my brother.
So I am going to play it good so I don't loose the rest of the spring.
Thanks for the update!
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Today was the first day I cooked out of the garden! I harvested our first zucchini of the year (ok, I pulled it a leeetle early, but it was so pretty!) and I've been harvesting peas for a week, but only a couple pods at a time. I made a stir fry, which turned out not bad. I tried it with bacon, because... well, bacon, and it wasn't as good as something like chicken or beef or strips of pork. But it was definitely edible. Neither my nor Mr. WPW had to ask the puppy to help dispose of leftovers. :)
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We have been eating lettuce, radishes and snap peas out of the garden for 3 weeks so far.
Sunday, I took 5 oz. of snap peas, 5 oz. of carrots sliced like pommes frites and a half of a Vadalia onion and quick fried them in a saute pan using sesame & olive oil. Delish!
I replanted in another plot more lettuce and radishes two weeks ago.
I am disappointed in my corn as only about 1/3 of the seeds germinated, I replanted on Sunday.
My tomatoes are doing VERY well.
This reminds me I need to take some pictures and do a write-up.
Wellie, about how many sq ft did you plant this year? brat planted like 5 acres (I may be exaggerating slightly) ;)
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Radishes! How could I have forgotten the radishes! Our first meal out of the garden was from some German white radishes. I'd never planted them before, you can betcha I'm planting them again! I fried them in a little butter and it was DELICIOUS! I got the seeds from Baker Creek. So yummy!
Anywho, to answer your question, we have about, at a guess, 35' x 25' fenced off for the garden (I measured it way back when I put it in, but can't remember now exactly), but not all of it is planted. We have six 4' x 8' raised beds, two potato planters that are about 3' in diameter, berry bushes along one short side of the garden and the other end is currently empty, but we're putting in a strawberry patch there next Spring. I've got a 3' x 5'~ish pumpkin patch (just big enough for the plants to be established before they start growing out and getting big) outside the garden with a short fence around it. Hopefully we'll get a couple pumpkins from the protected area even if the rabbits & deer get the rest. (I ran out of fencing for that area, so figured we'd see. *shrug* There's always next year if it doesn't work.) So, not a huge amount of land under cultivation, though the garden is generous and comfortable to move around in.