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[+] market garden » 'lasagne gardening' with composted manure (Go to) | Ida Schwartz | |
Pull the mulch back, and make a pocket, fill with a generous amount of soil. Plant into soil so the plants have some time till they get to the manure. Should ease the shock. I wouldnt advise planting directly into manure, even if it is composted.
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[+] financial strategy » How I went from rat race to homestead with no savings or money. (Go to) | Bruce Katlin | |
Thanks for the kind words! I am definitely over the criticism at this point, but mostly because I left the social media platforms.
Thanks to drip irrigation and landscape fabric, I just got done planting another 200 trees since last Saturday. Now I have a living food hedge around 5 of my 10 acres, soon to be a privacy screen, that comes along with currants, seaberry, kiwifruit and plums. Hurray for not spinning our wheels with farming techniques that wont ever allow us to get ahead! |
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[+] market garden » Vege Beds (Go to) | Skandi Rogers | |
You can break it all up with a plow, tiller etc, then go no till. You dont have to start with sheet mulch in order to be no till. I've been no till for 7 years and the one time I tried sheet mulch (my second year) it almost ruined my whole season and I almost gave up on farming, because of the millions of slugs and voles that moved into the layers of mulch.
People fail to mention the downsides of sheet mulch, or its many have never actually done it, just read about it or saw videos. I actually did it, and it was a near total failure that year. There are many ways to do things. Every location will be different. I'm 31 now, and we made our whole garden 24" beds, 50' long. 12" path between beds, with a 4-6' path every 8 beds. We did this because we started with 4' wide beds and it was too much for us, it really helps to be able to straddle a bed comfortably, without stepping or cleaning on it. If you want to start growing next year, cover with mulch, compost, manure etc, and fence then let chickens go. That will work just fine, but absolutely not necessary. If you want to grow this year, I suggest the following: if you have native rhizome grass, then you really should de sod the plot, rent a de sodder and take up the top 2 inches, this will remove most of the rhizomes, which will become the bane of your existence, trust me.... then you can break it up however you choose, I paid a neighbor to till it up that first time. If you dont have the bad rhizome plants in your plot, you can break it up with grass still there, but this will definitely cause weed issues later. I've seen our rhizome grass grow through 2' of woodchips in little time. Hands down the single most important thing you can do, long before mulching, compost, bed layout, till or no till, is to test your soil! Test it with a good, reputable source. I like Michigan State University myself. It's simple and cheap and tells me what I need. Then, go to a farm and feed supply store, call ahead, and find out what natural products they have to get your macro and micro elements in the PROPER RATIO. No amount of chickens or compost will fix natural nutrient deficiencies, at least not for a very long time. Or, by getting a test, and amending with the proper amendments, you can have a totally phenomenal garden right now, this year, then follow those same amendment amounts for the next 2 or 3 years before having it tested again. Just remember, there is very little right or wrong, just what works for YOU and YOUR system. You have to figure that out yourself through trial and error. We changed garden layouts twice, and are finally happy with what we have. I have never changed the method of soil testing and proper amending. People ask how we have such amazing produce week after week, and year after year, and the magic is in a balanced soil, that comes from fixing deficiencies, not just letting chickens go on the plot. That is 20 year landscape fabric, which is recycled at the end of its life. I do not care what anyone thinks about it, it's my system. I have a very healthy no till garden, and this super productive half acre has paid for the planting of 500 trees, and installation of several swales on the property. It is not a one use plastic, it does not break down in the sun, and it is the only thing that actually stops the native rhizomes from growing through, stealing water and nutrients and making an unproductive garden. It is just my wife and I doing this, and we have managed to make an actual living out of a half acre, while making enough extra after bills to pay for trees and permaculture projects. No grants, no loans, no debt. The long slow grow to success has worked great for us. |
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[+] market garden » Getting Water to the Garden (Go to) | Tom Colton | |
In my opinion, your best bet for higher water pressure and not a ton of money, is go get 200' of 1" black poly tubing. Get the higher grade stuff (they have non potable, and potable water versions) get the potable water version, I love taking big drunks from the hose. Plus the potable version will take better to a freeze or expansion of the pipe.
The poly pipe is the most cost efficient means of moving water. With a 3/4 hp well pump, I can move water through a 1" poly tube at least 500 feet and still have plenty of pressure. If I may add though: the garden looks great, good job for making it happen! I know Lawton and others push a 5'-7' wide bed for being the most efficient use, but a 4' bed proved to be too big a pain in our asses. So now we re did the whole garden to have 24" beds with 12" paths. This works really good for us. Inevitably you'll be stepping and leaning on the center of your wide beds to harvest, this compacts soil, and makes it harder to have a nice loamy bed next year unless you plan to till it and reform beds each year. Good luck! It's looking good! Just gotta get out there and crush it! |
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[+] tiny house » My Tiny, Bug Out, Off Grid, Boondocking Camper/Trailer/Home (Go to) | mike d farrier davis | |
I'm aware that there is a risk when it comes to the batteries. Everyone needs to do their own research. I learned from a few very smart people, who all unanimously agree that there is very little actual danger posed by these. Setup like this, in a child free household 1. The hydrogen off gassed from healthy batteries is so minute it wont ever be enough to harm you. The nature of hydrogen is that it attempts to spread itself as far away from other hydrogen atoms as quickly as possible. You will know if there is a battery malfunction, long before you die from hydrogen inhalation. Much of these dangers are presented by the battery companies, who then offer an AGM that cost almost twice as much as an alternative. 2. I dont have kids who would be the only reason it is unsafe to have a battery bank like this. If one day that changes I can box it out and vent it, or go to agm's. 3.setup like this I'm much more likely to tend to them, test them, check fluid levels, and be able to tell immediately if there is an issue starting, if they are sealed up hidden from you, the problem may get much worse before you notice anything. 4. The box they are in is rock solid, they arent going anywhere. 5. The trailer will get a wrap around counter in the nose, which will include over the batteries. They are uncovered for the photo. 6. Golf car batteries are designed to be bounced and banged around by drunk golfers everyday. They can handle the smooth ride of the trailer. Ultimately after my whole journey here of being immersed in everything cargo conversion, I have come to think that there is a lot of hype when it comes to battery safety. I put the "safety" into weight balance, and resiliency while on the road, a way to get out of anything, and always have the safest road experience for myself and everyone else. I'm far more worried about an accident, what could happen as a result of an accident, and mine and everyone elses safety on the road. |
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[+] tiny house » My Tiny, Bug Out, Off Grid, Boondocking Camper/Trailer/Home (Go to) | mike d farrier davis | |
Yeah I was planning something like this for a few years now, but the bug out series definitely helped, and the Steven Harris videos he has on his website helped with the power system for sure. Even though that guy can be difficult to deal woth to say the least. He actually lives near me. And after my research into it, the conclusion I came to, was that solar, when i add them, will be mainly for topping off batteries when trailer is not in use, so it doesnt have to remain plugged in, but I can never rely on a couple solar panels to actually charge and top off batteries on a day when I'm using them. For instance, if I go to the desert it will be in the winter so the angle is so low I wont hardly get anything from them, and if i use it in summer, I'm almost always going to be looking for shade. I have the battery bank plugged into the truck when we're driving to charge it from the truck while going down the road. And a generator to charge it if stationary for multiple days. It would take only a few hours to go from 50% to full while driving the truck or running generator, but would take many days of solar to actually top them off if they were at 50%. So it's an investment that I dont see as necessary right now. And really my conclusion is that there are very few places that a solar panel would really ever be worth the money and cost. At least for me and my purposes. It's easier to use 25 cents in fuel to charge the batteries with an inverter generator, than it would be to spend $300 plus on a solar setup that wknt do what I need it to. |
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[+] tiny house » My Tiny, Bug Out, Off Grid, Boondocking Camper/Trailer/Home (Go to) | mike d farrier davis | |
Came at you with chainsaws? Senator Graham really bailed you out with that letter! |
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[+] tiny house » My Tiny, Bug Out, Off Grid, Boondocking Camper/Trailer/Home (Go to) | mike d farrier davis | |
You be careful out there buddy. Too much weight up front and you got a another issue all together. 13-17% tongue weight is most peoples goal. |
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[+] tiny house » My Tiny, Bug Out, Off Grid, Boondocking Camper/Trailer/Home (Go to) | mike d farrier davis | |
Do some more research there. That is not true. I did mine, and this is totally safe, it's set up based on what the Electrical Engineer who designed the first hybrid engines set up his own battery bank. You can decide for yourself if very minute amounts of hydrogen are going to kill you. Hydrogen immediately dilutes itself and spreads itself as quickly as possible. The tiny amount off gassed from these batteries is negligible compared to the smog and off gassing of my car, home, work etc. Plenty of people worry about it and that's fine for them. |
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[+] tiny house » My Tiny, Bug Out, Off Grid, Boondocking Camper/Trailer/Home (Go to) | mike d farrier davis | |
Thought I'd share my bug out trailer conversion with everyone.
This is the far better solution to the "tiny home" than building an actual tiny home in my opinion. Either a camper or a converted stealth cargo trailer like this. I also have a thread about my other tiny home, the kind you think of when you hear that name. And it still sits where I built it, because no home mover will touch it since a neighbor built a house on top of the only access I had to the part of the property with the TH on it. Too steep of a hill to get it out the other way. Not cool, but i was young and not as intelligent, and if i could do it over i would have just bought a camper. I got caught up in the craze though. I bought a 7x14 2019 Mirage brand enclosed trailer in July of 2019. Paid 4k total after everything. I put about 1500-2000 into it. Hard to tell after all the screws, extra trips for wire and connectors etc etc. Things can add up I know, but overall the build and price was very easy to manage for a first time RV'er and camper owner. I suspect it will last me 20 years or so if I dont upgrade before then. I kept things simple and to the point, and found a good balance between comforts of home, and simplicity/cost efficiency. Dimmer switches, LED lights in and out. Big Buddy Heater 4 GC2 Golf car batteries. 50 amp name brand converter. 2000w inverter 2000w generator 30amp solar charger wired to my trucks alternator. (Battery bank charges as I drive down the road) Zero plumbing or tanks (no winterizing or dumpstations) Thetford porta potti. Curtain for privacy. Plenty of cabinet and storage space for my wife and I. Beds are 30" wide custom made, half lux foam and half natural latex. Beds lift up and are all storage underneath. Spare tire, generator, heater, water, extra propane, chairs, fire grill and others stored under the beds. 12v sockets throughout trailer, as well as 120v plugs. Plugs can be powered by shore power or inverter. 12v TV Maxxair fan with the nice low profile rain proof cover. Real mini fridge (because I had it already, waiting to buy a quality 12v fridge/freezer. For now I like how the fridge is a good counter height. And I have a counter top velcro'd on. Single burner stove Fire extinguishers Magnet bug screens for both doors Stands for the ramp so it acts as an elevated deck Dry weight is 1500 pounds. I figure I'm at around 2200 fully loaded, still need to hit a scale to know for sure. Towing with a 1500 silverado 5.3L getting 10mpg on flat ground. I do not like to be towing at anywhere close to my capacity, so this lightweight trailer, coupled with electronic brakes and a good brake controller has me feeling pretty comfortable towing it. No sway unless an ambulance passes me going 20mph faster, and even then it's barely noticeable. I put a lot of effort into weight distribution throughout trailer, and each side of trailer is within 20lbs of the other. I dont think I need to worry about weight distribution hitches or anything, but a final weigh in and knowing tongue weight will confirm this. If it's not needed, I'd rather have the mobility than lose the ability to go thriugh a wash or make a tight turn. We like to be in the boonies. Now for the guts: I left the half inch plywood on the walls at the manufacturer's recommendation. Over top of that I have half inch of polyiso and 1/4" lauan which is stained a pecan color. That half inch of plywood underneath makes for easy installation and hanging of anything you want later on. Double the insulation on the ceiling. That 1" air gap between the inside of the skin and the plywood will help a lot with air flow behind the insulation, as moisture will inevitably be a problem. The only real way to be moisture free is to have it spray foamed, and I just didnt have that kind of money to spend. I dealt with plenty of condensation issues with my old tiny home also. Everything is glued together, and I siliconed the seams and corners, as well as went completely crazy with 20 cans of expanding foam. Now the whole structure feels solid and very well sealed. I need to add some floor vents to remedy how air tight it is. I used a combination of weather stripping and neoprene pipe wrap to solve the last condensation issue around the metal frames of doors. As far as resiliency goes, I have an extra portable 800w inverter for either the truck side or camper if the cobra brand 2000w inverter that's in there takes a crap. I have a smaller 8amp battery charger that I can run off the 800w inverter if the main 50amp converter/charger dies or malfunctions. So I have 3 ways to charge batteries. I also have a portable battery jumper that can be topped off or charged up by the trailer battery bank, it also acts as a portable 12v socket. I have a 12v compressor, and backup 12v compressor, as well as a full size home compressor with 25' air hose (my go to if I have an emergency flat, or to blow out the trailer of dust or blow off shoes or clothes). A scissor jack and a bottle jack, and I'm thinking of bringing a floor jack on longer trips. I have backup solar lights and battery powered lanterns. A dozen ways to charge phones or devices. Come along, tow straps, rope and plenty of straps and tethers. Next week 1/24/20 we are leaving Mid Michigan and making our way down to texas, through Quartzite, and onto vegas for a couple days, before spending a week in southeastern California. Not our first long trip, but the first long trip towing a trailer and boondocking almost the whole way. It was really fun to build, I had a blast. My wife loves it, and i can also use it for the farm and work, where my truck doesnt have the room. If anyone has any questions feel free to ask, I'm posting this for inspiration and to help others. |
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[+] financial strategy » How I went from rat race to homestead with no savings or money. (Go to) | Bruce Katlin | |
Well, here we are 3 years later... my wife is full time on the farm, crushing it, and loving life. I split my time between the farm and my family construction company, which I love doing both and not just one or the other.
I have 9.5 acres that now have poly culture planted swales and berms. A half acre intensive market garden that pays all the bills, plus my wifes income, and after everythings paid still puts money in my pocket. It took only the first 2 weeks of market this spring (2019) to pay for the years farm investments. We are completely killing it weekly at the farmers market. We only do one market a week and its paying very well. We stuck it out, and were finally making good money doing this. I say "good money" but for many living in the modern world it would barely be enough to get by, but for us we live good on it. Because we spent the last 7 years building a frugal, simpler life. For the market garden- I used 20 year landscape geotextile fabric, and a fully automated drip irrigation system. We applied this to a no-till garden. Yes I know there are other ways to do it, and other ways to make money without using any plastics of any kind, and I encourage you to go out and be the example needed to show you dont need any plastic to be productive. But let me tell you we battled weeds and native rhizomes for 5 years, spinning our wheels. The first year on our new property, we tried doing the 20 year fabric and drip irrigation, this literally quadrupled the profits, for about half the work load as previous years. It literally saved our garden because I dont know how long I'd be able to farm and not make a good enough profit. But, that was my decision to use plastics on a half acre of my 10 acre poly culture food forest. But that half acre literally pays for the other 9.5 acres, and paid to have almost 500 trees planted in the last 2 years, another 500 this fall... For the other 9.5 acres- we have 450 feet roughly of river frontage, places to hunt and fish along the river, I've kept 7 acres of the 10 to be zone 4. Because I like wild forested spaces, and I can produce enough food on a smaller scale to not have to use the rest of the property for anything but forest plantings, hunting, and fishing. We have dozens of edible and medicinal species, which I'll rattle off a handful right now, but missing some: Elderberry, hazelnut, paw paw,gingko, poplar, spruce, mulberry, apple, seaberry, rugosa rose, perennial clumping grasses, currants, serviceberry, and many more I cant think of at 5:30am. Most of which is thriving and surviving and growing quickly. New outlooks: I hate to say it, but permaculture folks have left a very bad taste in my mouth in the last couple years. I considered myself a permaculturist since about 2008, I took Lawtons PDC. But then I started using landscape fabric on a half acre, which has upset dozens and dozens of people online, and many permaculture instructors have made it a point to attack us and our farm. It's kind of sad really, that we went through all this work, all this sacrifice, only to be booted out of the community because 5% of our paradise isnt perfection. And the catch 22, is our farm is called imperfect by them, and shunned because it doesnt resemble someone elses idea of perfection. Well, that my friends is a very subjective idea... perfection... So, at this point, I've realized that most of the people criticizing farmers for not farming right, are mostly people who are still too scared to become farmers. I remember reading the "can you actually make money with permaculture" thread many years ago on this site, and I still wonder if you can.... the 9.5 acres of permaculture food forest are in their infancy stages, so many years before I'm picking fruit and nuts, instead of salad mix and broccoli. But the salad mix and broccoli (there are about 15 other crops we make money on) are what pays to continue "playing" permaculture. There are people out there "playing" farmer, I played farmer until I switched to something that kept the weeds down in my no-till garden... Now I am the farmer, we are farming, because we give the giant veggie farms at our market a serious run for their money. We have the premier quality product at our market, everyone else struggles to meet or match our quality, and we continue to sell out, year after year. We struggle to grow enough to meet demand, because people are thirsty for really high quality, really clean food. The relentless frustrated criticisms by all the people out there in internet land finally got to me, and I quit trying to push my message online. People get hung up when they see the landscape fabric and cant look past it. At this point, I have lost a lot of faith in the permaculture world and movement, and I see it on the downword spiral. Mainly because of where it's gone, you have a handful of people making a lot of money in permaculture, and it's all being taken from the pockets of kids who have dreams of doing great things, but then they get out there and realize the world dont fart rainbows and unicorns. It's a tough world,you better be ready to make a good profit, without acquiring a shit load of debt, if you expect your farm to make it long term. I have the beginnings of a permaculture food forest, in 10 years, most species will be producing, maybe then I'll write a book about how you need market gardening in order to subsidize the permaculture side of things. This is no fairytale world, there is no utopia. You can spend 30 years getting somewhere slowly with permaculture, or you could be there in 10 years by incorporating a half acre market garden into your permaculture... I was told by multiple permaculture educators that my methods and systems are a complete failure, and terrible advice. This has been thrown at me many many times now in the last couple years, whilst trying to promote my message and farm. You tell me, was it bad advice for me? I went from being a high school drop out, with zero education and no money living in a trailer park. And 7 years later, I own 10 acres, very low monthly bills, my wife and I go out west to California and the mountains from Michigan in the winter on vacation, boondocking in our converted cargo trailer camper. We have a successful farm, dozens and dozens of super loyal happy customers that LOVE us and our food and remind us weekly of these facts... my wife is happier than shes ever been now that shes on the farm full time, and not pulling weeds for 14 hours a day just to make ends meet. We are living our best life, today, and you know what? I do not care if you think its permaculture or not... it doesnt matter at all, what matters is I produce shelter, food, and knowledge for others, I do this with minimal inputs, I do this while building topsoil and diversity, and I do this all while living a great life, seeing my country, and loving my wife. Our relationship is not strained because of a struggling farm... Really, anyone can do it, for me it took breaking away from what I'd learned on this forum and elsewhere. And to just invest some money into things that will allow us to get ahead of the game, we did, and we won. We couldnt be happier, or feel more successful. Permaculture is just a word, go make your own way, and your own life, who cares what other people call or dont call it. One more note, look around the USA today, what do you see? Farms struggling and flooded, everywhere. Yet, we hlare having our best year to date, and the excess rain has only helped, because of well thought out design and layout of swales and garden beds. |
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[+] homestead » First Season/new land, New Market Garden, Crushing it, pictures! (Go to) | Travis Schulert | |
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[+] homestead » First Season/new land, New Market Garden, Crushing it, pictures! (Go to) | Travis Schulert | |
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[+] homestead » First Season/new land, New Market Garden, Crushing it, pictures! (Go to) | Travis Schulert | |
*Below there are links to my interview with Diego Footer from Permaculture Voices, as well as our WEBSITE, and links to all of our social media pages so you can see in depth what we have had going on! Come follow along, add me on Facebook to see day to day operations around the homestead.*
Alright so it has been a crazy busy year! HOLY S&%t! 1 year ago this week, we were putting an offer on the land we are now farming. We started the moving of the farms in late September, and we still have things we left behind that we would like to still get here, like our tiny home for starters... We put in a 1/4 acre No-Till market garden, which has been producing tables of produce since the 22nd of May. We made it to the first week of market this spring, with having nothing but 2' tall grass and a mat of roots in late March when the grounds thawed. We took it in one season and made it the best garden I have ever had, with big thanks to landscape fabric and fully automated drip irrigation. I worked my ass off over the winter to save the money to invest a few grand into the garden. The lack of weeds and the extra time gained from not having to water has allowed my wife and I to produce twice as much food as we ever have, on less actual work. We have outgrown our niche market at our 1 farmers market, and are now looking at all possibilities to sell our extra produce around town. It is a very bright beacon of hope, that this farming thing could really work out. Its just until the farm is producing enough to live off, I need to continue running my construction company. I cant be on the farm full time until then. I have planted about 25 fruit trees that I ordered from Greg and Susan Burns of Natures Image Farm. And I plan on planting several hundred trees this fall and next spring. I don't plan on doing too much earth works at this point, as the land features really don't call for it, so I am not going to waste money on it. Our property is on the edge of a very fertile floodplain, with a river on the back edge. I plan on doing fish ponds as well as polyculture food forest throughout the rest of the 10 acres that we are not doing the market garden on. Though I have been catching good size bass, blue gill, perch and bowfin every time I have fished in the river this summer. So if that keeps up I may just not even bother with fish ponds and op instead for just using the floodplain to grow fruit and nut crops for storage and market. The goal is to be working from home and starting our family by 2022. I will be 33... But better late than never, and for us its better to raise our kids on farm than it is for me to have to go to work every single day. But we have a ton of work to do in the meantime, lots of plantings, a couple swales, we have to have a natural swimming pool really soon, and possibly a levy in the future. Please stay tuned in and follow along with our story, its turning into a pretty exciting, fulfilling ride, and we want to invite you all to come along. Please listen to my interview on The Permaculture Voices Podcast with Diego Footer to hear our story in my words You Can Listen HERE One way to help us out is to head over to the website and sign up for our newsletter, I would greatly appreciate it! Visit The Website Here Follow us on social media, and let me know what kind of content you want to see! That alone would help us out exponentially. all of our social media links are in my signature below. |
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[+] financial strategy » How I went from rat race to homestead with no savings or money. (Go to) | Bruce Katlin | |
Keep it up man, you got a good plan. We have since had an issue with the local authorities on our old property,last summer we basically had to pack up and go. It was perfect timing because we literally found the perfect property for the price. We moved in in October, and have been fixing it up all winter, and now have the garden coming along and seeds starting in the basement. We have several feet of topsoil with over 5% organic matter without having added any compost yet. We are truly grateful and feel the hard work has begun to pay off. A lot of this is possible by not having any debt, we didn't go to college, instead I learned a trade. I actually only have a 9th grade education on paper, I was a drop out because I felt like school was just a prison forcing me to become a worker ant. I am no fucking ant. So this high school drop out got ahead of the game by working my ass off and learning as much as I could about life. Utilized the internet, libraries, and plenty of books. Offered to go work on other's farms for free for a day just to try and pick up some techniques. You are on a good path, just keep up the hard work. I find myself being bogged down by laziness at times, but burnout happens in this business. Just gotta get over the hump. Thanks for the inspiring words. |
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[+] geoff lawton's online pdc » Geoff Lawton's online PDC 2016 will be more in-depth (Go to) | Dave de Basque | |
Got an email from Geoff. I'm signed up! Whose coming with me?
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[+] homestead » Proud Owners of a New Farmstead! Need YOUR Advice! (Go to) | Peter Ellis | |
Couple more for design purposes.
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[+] homestead » Proud Owners of a New Farmstead! Need YOUR Advice! (Go to) | Peter Ellis | |
Figured I'd add a couple more pics.
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[+] homestead » Proud Owners of a New Farmstead! Need YOUR Advice! (Go to) | Peter Ellis | |
Sounds good Steve, thanks. And you're spot on about the loss that can accompany early animal production, I experienced it myself with chickens, it sucks... And fyi, I could care less what our college football teams do, so you being from Ohio means nothing lol, glad to be in your neighborhood. |
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[+] homestead » Proud Owners of a New Farmstead! Need YOUR Advice! (Go to) | Peter Ellis | |
Yeah I don't know how much area your trying to cover, but electric fencing is really economical if you don't live in a really dry place. I use 12' 4x4 posts for my corners, and then use 8' T posts for in between. The only wire that's above the 8't post is the top wire. And using poly wire you can span much greater distances with less tension. The fencing covers a 1/4 acre at a time, but could be moved every couple years after trees have better established themselves. Use a strip of foil on the lower wires when you first install it, and smear peanut butter, molasses, honey, etc on the foil. Deer get one good zap trying to lick the foil and don't come back to test it again for awhile. Re do the foil thing in a couple areas (mainly the places the deer are exiting cover to feed on your trees or garden), re do it monthly or bi monthly. I have had almost no deer damage with that setup in 3 years, and have a huge herd in my area. Of course this was the place I just moved from, I don't have anything set up at the new house but you can bet that's how I'm doing it come spring. |
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[+] geoff lawton's online pdc » Geoff Lawton's online PDC 2016 will be more in-depth (Go to) | Dave de Basque | |
Am I able to sign up still for the course?? If so please show me where. Geoff Lawton.com has nothing that I can tell about the pdc.
Thank you. |
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[+] homestead » Proud Owners of a New Farmstead! Need YOUR Advice! (Go to) | Peter Ellis | |
Native to where and when? I'm one of those crazies like Falk and Mollison who am not as worried about non native species. Invasive and native aren't the same thing. Black locust as far as I know is a native invasive, whereas apples are not native, but not invasive. I plan on growing apple trees, and many other fruit trees that arent native. And when it comes to invasives, i understand there are tricks to coppicing or removing them without it sending up hundreds of shoots, so that's definitely something I need to learn before I plant any invasives like locust. But locust will later be my fenceposts and firewood. Just like poplar will be cover now, but later become fungi logs for growing a few different mushrooms on. |
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[+] homestead » Proud Owners of a New Farmstead! Need YOUR Advice! (Go to) | Peter Ellis | |
Peter, I know where your coming from as I've had animals on leased farm land in the past. And for me personally it's not worth it at the current time, please let me explain why. Sure if I want to clear land I could let the pigs and goats do it, that's all well and good if you don't mind taking care of goats and pigs during all the times that they are not just doing work. Sure, on a good system you can make it so you do a lot less work than a factory farm to raise each pound of meat. But through the life of the animal I am inevitably working, doing chores, to some extent, to keep it happy and alive. BUT, we are not all sepps, or salatins. I will have big investments of fencing and infrastructure for animals up front, money I don't have. Or time I don't have. I can help the neighbor who has chickens by buying her eggs, and the other neighbor who has grass fed beef by buying his beef, also there is raw milk near me that I can turn into all the wonderful dairy products, all while building community and supporting my neighbors. Now for the bulk of my meat, is venison and squirrel. They raise themselves without fencing, are not always as dependant as livestock, but literally cost me nothing. As for land prep, for 300 bucks and a few days of rented equipment I can turn an acre of brush into farmable land. And on a 1/4 acre I can make almost 10k in greens and veggies. In terms of resilience, I'm losing out by not having pigs, but I am also not a target to marauders if I don't have animals and shit hits the fan. Also the fall of Rome was 300 years or more. Currency was inflated heavily by several million times it's worth over the course of 300 years. As the silver content of the Roman Denarii was diminished and replaced with worthless tin. Sound a lot like our own currency? Well I'm hoping I have 10 or so years before I have to worry about fencing, and by then the black locust should serve as my free fence posts. But I think things have to get a lot worse before they can better. And the odds of it happening over night and catching me completely with my pants down are pretty slim. I also live In a sandhill crane fly corridor, if shit ever got that bad, I have hundreds of thousands of 4' tall birds fly over my house every year, plenty of good meat there. |
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[+] homestead » Proud Owners of a New Farmstead! Need YOUR Advice! (Go to) | Peter Ellis | |
The hard part was trying to find the right land, and the whole terribly drawn out purchasing process. The fun is only beginning, I wouldnt be doing this if the hard work wasnt a lure for me. I am thankful every day I wake up here knowing there is a never ending amount of work for me to do to keep busy and to keep making more income streams within the property I can now proudly work on. |
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[+] homestead » Proud Owners of a New Farmstead! Need YOUR Advice! (Go to) | Peter Ellis | |
Thank you! Great information. I will do some homework on the species provided. Basically zone 6 means we can get down to about -20f don't know what that is in Celsius. Probably similar to Sweden in places. It's temperate climate. Cold in winter, warm in summer. |
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[+] homestead » Proud Owners of a New Farmstead! Need YOUR Advice! (Go to) | Peter Ellis | |
Thats a river and no it's not fast flowing but it is a good size. I don't know the depth yet. But in between the house and the river there's probably 800 feet of Russian olive and tall grasses, as well as a few wet areas I plan on putting in ponds that hold water most of the year. |
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[+] mulch » Horrors of sheet mulching (Go to) | Pearl Sutton | |
Just wanted to update that for me, sluggo was a hands down winner.
For roughly 40 or 50 bucks in sluggo I destroyed the slug population and had almost no damage the rest of the season. I bought a giant bag for 200 bucks, but that should last me years, at least 2 or 3. This now allows me to sheet mulch where I want and get all the obvious benefits. Remember to find what works for you!! And there is no one right way to do anything, only techniques that favor your system. Furthermore I cannot stress enough the importance of testing different methods before telling others to do things "your way". Far too many people out there telling people how they need to do something just because they read it in a book somewhere. As a farmer, it's funny the amount of silly or just plain wrong garden information that comes out of books and magazines. Most of it is meant for someone with a couple garden beds, not a farm. |
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[+] homestead » Proud Owners of a New Farmstead! Need YOUR Advice! (Go to) | Peter Ellis | |
Hello!
Last I posted we were getting kicked off of our farm and forced to move the tiny home on wheels, without warning. I cant help but feel this happened at the perfect time. I think we found the perfect property for the money... Some things really are a blessing in disguise. We found a 10 acre parcel, with a fixer upper that sits on a full walk out basement, with 2 car detached garage, 2 sheds, and a river with about a half acre of land on the opposite side of the river from our house. 5 acres is a floodplain with several feet of super black humic rich soil. about 2 acres of a mix of the black top soil and sand, and then about 3 acres of higher ground above the house thats just straight sand. All this for under 40k, and it came with a warrantied deed. also agricultural zoning, on a private drive, with only 3 neighbors on the street. All this is surrounded by 2 state recreation areas and a massive marshland/wildlife preserve. Currently there are several thousand sandhill cranes nesting in and around the property, the sounds are beautiful. So now that I am done gloating about our amazing property, we are moved in and we own it... I am currently working on getting house more livable (I have been a general contractor for 10 plus years so no problem on the remodeling), and just observing the land and planning... trying to resist too much planning, as I know its better to wait a year. So I attached some pictures below, and I would like for some ideas from all you crazy permies. Zone 6 middle of Michigans mitten. we have 3 main soil types, some small plots of mixed trees, 3 kinds of oak, poplar, pine, russian olive. The floodplain has a pretty good diversity, mainly 6'+ grass, russian olive, and raspberry among many others. We have some cleared areas of grass that are fairly flat I plan on putting our market garden in. We are not interested in raising animals as I procure most of my meat through hunting which is far easier in my opinion than fencing, watering animals, and chores chores chores. At least hunting is fun and the animals raise themselves out in the wild without any help from me, then just come in to feed on my garden... I may run pigs or sheep in the future, to help prep floodplain for future garden or perennial plantings. But chances are slim. I am thinking first and foremost my market garden, which is already kind of decided as to where the easiest place to put it would be in relation to zone 1 and 2 from the house. Second, we need a living fence. Ben Falk suggested I do poplar, apple, seaberry, black locust. but I am looking for a couple more species to put in that 15'-30' wide living fence. So what do you all think? Anyone in my area have any suggestions for helpful species for my living fence, or just plain helpful plants or trees to get onto the property asap? I have a lot of the popular ones like comfrey already. But maybe you have some tried and true michigan permaculture approved varieties? Any other ideas, plans, anything is appreciated. This is a totally different game now that we OWN the land we are farming. Before we were leasing so it stayed pretty much all annuals except for some basic perennials and herbs. |
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[+] financial strategy » Beginner question; how do I get started farming if I've never done it before and have no money? (Go to) | Barbara Scheltus | |
Follow the links in my signature below, I detail how I started farming without any savings or knowledge on the subject. No formal education or training on the subject and I made it work.
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[+] homestead » Here Is Our Micro-Homestead. Enjoy. (Go to) | John C Daley | |
Yes. As should every farmer. |
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[+] permaculture design » Buying land, need advice. (Go to) | Travis Schulert | |
I would have the Parma river in the back. I wish it were the Huron! But I couldn't afford the land if it was lol. |
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[+] permaculture design » Buying land, need advice. (Go to) | Travis Schulert | |
Looks like your from ypsi? This property is between Ann arbor and jackson. |
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[+] permaculture design » Buying land, need advice. (Go to) | Travis Schulert | |
Lol much obliged Tyler. Thank you. Saved me the search time anyway, tried to edit it as I realized it made me sound lazy. |
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[+] permaculture design » Buying land, need advice. (Go to) | Travis Schulert | |
The house, and annual garden are all above flood level. But in the back where would have animals IF I had animals, would be running the risk of being flooded out. That's why I think ducks would be the only choice. Though they would have a hilltop that will stay dry that they could retreat to if it floods in summer. I hiked it after a really heavy rain and there was zero standing water... but the neighbors have lived there for 12 years and said almosrlt every spring and about half the autumns is basically like having lakefront property... he even took his boat out in it one time. Another option would be entering the watercress and water chestnut market on wet years. Also I'm not a big fan of livestock, especially not overwintering anything besides ducks. I can't go on vacation if I have animals... and I like to get away from my responsibilities a couple times a year if the work load allows. Any ideas as to what trees like wet feet and can take an occasional flooding, in your experience? Not that a Google search couldn't give me a few names, I just want to know if anyone has actual experience growing edible trees in an area with yearly flooding. |
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[+] permaculture design » Buying land, need advice. (Go to) | Travis Schulert | |
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[+] permaculture design » Buying land, need advice. (Go to) | Travis Schulert | |
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[+] permaculture design » Buying land, need advice. (Go to) | Travis Schulert | |
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[+] permaculture design » Buying land, need advice. (Go to) | Travis Schulert | |
We have had to suddenly start planning to move. This happened before we had saved the nest egg we were planning for.
We found a property that really fits our bill. 7.3 acres with a fixer upper, 2 car detached garage, 2 sheds. About 3 acres up front of the house, and about an acre of grass ready to turn into garden. 2 large clumps of mature polyculture trees. It sits on a quiet private road with only 3 other houses on it. Zoned agriculture, and not a chemical farm field within a mile in any direction. All this surrounded by state land, and wildlife sanctuary. Also has a river at the back of the property. Here's the catch, the back 4 acres flood out twice a year in spring and fall. The river overflows into this. This 4 acres is filled with Russian olive and 5 ft tall grasses, and is extremely rich soil. Obviously I have lots of ideas of how I could make this work. Like berms and hugels, wetlands species of edible plants, ducks, pigs when it's during the dryer months of summer. But I want to hear what y'all think about it.. we can afford this property without a mortgage and have never come across a more unique property for the price. We LOVE peace and quiet and hate most people so the location couldn't really be any better. Thoughts? |
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[+] homestead » Just like that, were losing our farm, no warning. (Go to) | Marleny Alf | |
good advice, I am already planning on playing as nice as possible, just letting him know that I want nothing to do with this place anymore due to lack of communication and lack on his part to act on the letters and instructions given to him by the twp. I met today with the woman who has been voted in in the same office building as the code enforcement officer. She says everybody hates him, and elections are right around the corner, and she looked at my whole set up and told me that because everythings on wheels there is nothing he can do in his jurisdiction, doesnt mean he cant call the health dept and report suspicious activity though. She was coming by to help bruce clean up some of his barn, and said that everyone else in the office feels bad for him, even the supervisor wants the landlord left alone. So hopefully he is voted out, that is still months away and until he is, we are at his mercy. Even once voted out he still has till the end of the year to wreak havoc. |
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[+] homestead » Just like that, were losing our farm, no warning. (Go to) | Marleny Alf | |
Thank you everyone.
The house is Mobil, though it's not under 8.5 feet so will require a moving company to register it as a wide load. Be it as it may, but there is no binding contract, nothing that says I have to stay here, also nothing that says this land is mine, but that doesn't matter because of the news I've heard about this enforcement agent, he's apparently walking around thw neighborhood passing out citations like it's the morning newspaper. This guy's a real bad seed, and he absolutely hates the landlord. I'm convinced with everything I know about the local code that we will have to move everything (besides the garden I hope) this year. I'm sure we will get a 60 day notice to comply. The tiny home will be referred to as a Mobil office, but to do that I have to disconnect all the plumbing the day before the inspection and make it really clean and tidy. Going to make sure I'm here for it, and I'm going to tell the guy straight up that I know he hates Bruce, but that doesn't mean I'm not an integral part of this community, that I bring good food to this community and that I teach children how grow heir own food. And that I am in the process of relocating atm. I know the landlord kept this from me because he wanted to get paid, and since I now see how messed up in the head this guy is, I don't care what the outcome of inspection is, I'm moving... and I'm going to start over next year on my own land, whether its on a land contract or through the bank. At this point my wife and I agree that the instability of spin farming with a Mobil tiny home on land we don't own is done, that it's time we have the ability to farm with the long term in mind, instead of just a short term on land we don't own. He has the right to walk the property, he also told Bruce all his neighbor's hate him, and that he wants him out of the community ( it's very affluent area), so that means he is going to nitpick everything, which subsequently means he's going to take whatever steps needed to get us out of here. I have talked in my other posts about how the only neighbor that can see us is the new mcmantion next door, and this guy's got serious money, and all this shit with the city started with him moving in.. I think he's lobbying the local enforcers to get Bruce out of here so they can move more mcmantion in and get rid of the last farm in the area.. don't worry too much, I'll be fine, I have a decent job and a garden fully planted with cash crops, so short of them bulldozing the garden I will still keep my sanity through all this, and I will be able to move into a new home this year. Maybe a blessing in disguise? The tiny home can be rough on a marriage sometimes. |