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[+] plants » patience dock (Go to) | Gail Gardner | |
What is pictured here grows wild where I live (SE Oklahoma). I throw some to the ducks periodically. The horses might eat a little of it, but it is all over the place. |
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[+] plants » What is your Favorite Weed? (Go to) | Jenny Wright | |
Now is the best time to eat wild lettuce if you can recognize it. It isn't as bitter when it is little. I've been throwing it to my ducks daily as they love it more than I do. I eat some of it, though. |
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[+] plants » What is your Favorite Weed? (Go to) | Jenny Wright | |
Yes, may absolute favorite weed to eat is purslane. Sadly, I keep living where it doesn't thrive. :-( I also eat dandelions, lambs quarters (tons of those here), wood sorrel, spring beauty flowers, day lily flowers, the tips of greenbriars, clovers, wild mushrooms...lots of things. |
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[+] urban » lowest possible utilities? (Go to) | Casie Becker | |
You probably lose the most heat through the windows. Besides insulating films using heavy drapes can make a huge difference. Some people go low-cost and put bubble wrap over the windows. In my bedroom I taped insulated foil bubble wrap packaging that cold-sensitive food items came in over the window that faces north. It normally has a window a/c in it so I don't ever look out that window anyway. So that north-facing window is totally sealed off with insulation and tape. It makes all the difference in keeping that room warm. I also cover the west-facing window in that room as it is only used for sleeping. This may sound crazy, but if you want a warm place to sleep without heating the entire bedroom, you can put your bed in a tent. I sleep on an air mattress that is inside a cheap (about $30) mosquito tent. I covered that tent with multiple space blankets. It was built because the neighbor's smart meter transmissions were waking me up in the middle of the night. But it also makes a warm, toasty place to sleep even if I turn the power off or don't use the heat in that room. If we have a power outage, I'll move all that in front of the fireplace. Then I'll open the front up to use fireplace heat and then close it up if I want to let the fire burn down to retain that heat. NOTE: it gets REALLY HOT in there in the heat of the summer so I have to open up the front of it. Look first at all north-facing windows and doors. Add insulation around them if they are letting cold air in. Then check all other windows and doors. Before good insulation was common, everyone had heavy drapes over windows. And most people also had exterior shutters they closed during storms. RE: Flushing. IF you have a place to bury or compost what is left, a luggable loo saves water. In a pinch, a 5 gallon bucket, a kitchen trash bag, and a bag of shavings (available at pet stores or feed stores) = power outage toilet. In the country, many people have composting toilets. The commercial version is super expensive. But many just make their own by putting a seat and sometimes a box around a 5 gallon bucket. Do your business, cover with shavings (or dried leaves, wood chips, peat pellets, etc.). When the bucket is full, empty it and start again. People who are off-grid or compost a lot may have separate wet and solid containers. After composting a year, humanure is safe for plants. The squeemish only use it on trees, bushes, etc., - not food plants. Keep in mind that the cleaner your food, the better this compost will be. And also be aware that if you take prescription anything, residue ends up in either the sewer, septic or compost. (And if you use city water, probably in what you drink and bathe in, too!) |
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[+] rocket ovens » The Ultimate Rocket Stove Oven Home and Water Heater (Go to) | Gail Gardner | |
Thanks for the response, Anne. I was hoping there would be a commercial version or at least plans for a rocket stove version of a cook stove with an oven. The Walker Stove is interesting and I had watched that video before. But it is so huge that I don't know what it would work in what I'm planning to build. I want to convert one or more reefer trailers into a tiny home. Those are typically 8' x 48' - 53'. You would think every wood stove would come with an insulation option to put it against a wall. This is an interesting video comparison between a rocket stove with multiple heat sinks and wood cook stoves. I like a couple of wood cook stoves I've seen, but one was UK and another was AU. And I doubt they sell them in the U.S. Also, they probably have the same issues mentioned in the video I shared just above. |
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[+] rocket ovens » The Ultimate Rocket Stove Oven Home and Water Heater (Go to) | Gail Gardner | |
My apologies in advance if this has ever been built or discussed here. There are so many rocket stove / rocket oven / wood burning stove threads I gave up trying to find it.
Has the ultimate rocket stove been built or designed? What I mean by that is one that could replace what a Pioneer Princess or other top tier wood burning cook stove can do:
The perfect rocket oven cook stove solution would have the ability to control the heat and direct it where you want it. So in the winter, you could use it to warm your home. But in the summer, you could vent it to the outdoors. It is critical to be able to control the temperature for canning as canners can be damaged by too much heat. And if you can't keep the heat consistent, you can't safely can food. I believe this could be done. And suspect someone may have already perfected a design that comes close. Ideally, it would have the smallest footprint possible without giving up any of the features on the list. It would be great if someone would produce these to retail. Ideally, there would be a base model (for heating and cooking) and add-ons for heating water. And maybe even a design to get the water from the stove to a sink and/or shower. Imagine you were building a tiny house from a reefer trailer or shipping container or bus or rent-to-own building. You have an empty space to work with and want your rocket stove centrally located. You can build the perfect rocket stove. How would you do it? If you already have resources or know where this has been written up or video-taped, please do share. [Is there a design for this in any existing Permies resource?] If you build and sell these, let us know. There is a possibility I may be able to buy one later this year (assuming one exists or someone with rocket stove expertise believes they can build it). Keep in mind that many wood cook stoves were located outdoors because it would get so hot in the house that they didn't use them much in the summer (especially in places like Texas or even Oklahoma). So how could you make a usable cook stove that wouldn't run you out of the tiny house in the summer? A tiny home build might only be 384 square feet or less. (The smaller and better insulated the space, the hotter it could get.) |
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[+] wheaton laboratories » i will pay you to make videos for my youtube channel (2022) (Go to) | Andrés Bernal | |
Do you have raw footage somewhere that you would like edited into specific segments? If you do, I know someone who does that for me for a community I manage. |
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[+] pasture » Pasture help. (Go to) | Phil Stevens | |
Have you tried one of the pasture mixes specifically for shady areas? Examples: https://alseed.com/product/shady-pasture-mix/ https://www.prairiemoon.com/shady-woodland-seed-mix-prairie-moon-nursery.html https://www.naturesseed.com/pasture-seed/by-region/ Also see this information: https://nwdistrict.ifas.ufl.edu/phag/2013/07/19/growing-pasture-under-shade-a-challenging-mix/
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[+] oklahoma and texas » Hello from Oklahoma! What Greenhouses work for you? (Go to) | Gail Gardner | |
Leon's Greenhouses (currently in Kingston, OK but for sale because Leon wants to retire) has a model with doors on both ends plus a triangular shape on the top what has vents all along it. The reason for that is greenhouses in Oklahoma get too hot in the summer to use. But by opening all those vents and both doors you can let the heat out and a breeze in. I believe they redesigned the vents so that rain won't come in even when they're open. They had photos on their website and at Facebook, but those are not available to link. On my hard drive I have some; however, you can't upload images to Permies for security reasons. If you reached out to me elsewhere (search for GrowMap) I could send them to you. The cheapest way to moderate temperatures in a greenhouse is by using geothermal pipes buried in the ground. The temperature below the freeze line stays the same year round. Done correctly, the greenhouse pulls cold air up in the summer and warm air up in the winter. I'd love to figure out the correct specifications for taking one of Leon's greenhouses with the vents and installing geothermal under it. Even if you have geothermal, I would still want those vents because it can go from cool to very hot quickly here. |
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[+] greenhouses » Commercial underground greenhouse in Oklahoma (Go to) | Jennifer Davis | |
I know I'm late to this discussion; however, I, too, am interested in building a geo-thermal greenhouse. My thought was to do that part of it to keep the greenhouse warm in the winter. The way I believe I can deal with the heat is a greenhouse design Leon's Greenhouses (currently in Kingston, OK, but up for sale because Leon wants to retire). They have a greenhouse that has doors on each end and a triangular shaped vent down the entire top of it that can be opened to let the heat out but not the rain in. Their site is down or I would link to a photo. I have photos of it on my hard drive, but you can't upload images to Permies. I thought it was the growing oranges in winter guy who had the calculations for how to determine how much pipe you need by the size of the greenhouse. If it wasn't him, someone else has it online in a YouTube video. |
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[+] cooking » Basic Kitchen Chemistry (Go to) | Sherri Lynn | |
Ok, so baking soda is a leavener, but too much doesn't taste good. Adding apple cider vinegar or any other acidic ingredient (lemon juice, lime juice, etc.) plus a natural sweetener (molasses, sorghum, honey, sugar) will help baked goods rise. Even yeast needs a sweetener to feed it. I don't know what the mechanism is for it, but if you bake with duck eggs things rise super high. When I put duck eggs in my bread machine bread recipe I had to cut the flour back TWICE because it was hitting the top window! |
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[+] cooking » Tips and recipes to reduce food waste? (Go to) | Kena Landry | |
I don't have any food waste because I don't buy packaged foods. So basically I harvest what I'm going to eat right before I eat it. I cook everything from scratch. If I have too much soup or roast or turkey leftovers, I freeze them. Right after I make a big turkey, I turn all the carcass and most of the red meat into 7 quarts of broth + 7 quarts of turkey with broth and pressure can it to use all year. I tend to eat parts of plants that most people don't eat by using them in broths, soups or stews. What I don't eat the ducks typically will. What they won't eat goes in the compost and back into the garden. After I make the broth and turkey the bones are soft (some completely dissolve). I feed those to my dogs either fresh or frozen to keep longer. So everything is either leftovers for me or food for my dogs or ducks or horses or eventually becomes compost to go back into the garden. Also, I cook large batches even though it is only me. Boiling potatoes once = hot buttered chunks + mashed potatoes + potato pancakes. I also reheat mashed potatoes covered in turkey gravy and sometimes turkey in the toaster oven. I put a whole chicken in the big crock pot, surround with veggies, season with onion, garlic, peppers, Italian seasoning, fresh herbs. Slice the white meat and eat with those veggies. Then, add more water and cook the chicken bones down into the broth. Add different vegetables: butternut squash or sweet potatoes for example. Season with cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice. Still some broth left? Add water + lentils + rice + curry powder. Meals all week from 1 chicken but with 3 totally different flavors. Do the same using a beef or bison roast or shanks or stew meat. If you get tired of it, freeze the leftovers. (I prefer not to freeze potatoes as they get mushy.) Cook pinto beans or mixed field peas. Eat plain, then add chili powder and ground beef or bison to make chili. Cook once, but have 2 different tastes. Freeze if you get tired of it. |
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[+] cooking » Easiest Recipe for Biscuit Bread (Go to) | Anne Miller | |
I know that you CAN bake! It isn't that complicated. Do you have a small square or rectangular pan suitable for baking? (I use a 2 quart square Corningware pan But any pan can work.) If you don't have measuring cups, use a drinking cup. No measuring spoons? Use any spoon you would eat from - teaspoons are the small ones and tablespoons are the larger ones. This recipe is very forgiving so ingredients don't have to be exact and it will still turn out fine. Let's make some biscuit bread: Put in a bowl: 2 cups any kind of flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/3 cup of butter, oil or shortening (I prefer palm shortening, but anything will work) Best results come if you use a fork to mash the butter or shortening into the dry ingredients until there are no pieces larger than a pea left. Add 1 1/2 cups of water. Stir until thoroughly blended. Grease your pan with shortening/butter/oil. If you don't have a pastry brush, use a paper towel or even your hand. Pour the mixture into the pan. Bake at 325 degrees for an hour in a toaster oven or a regular oven. I use a toaster oven and it takes two 30 minute timer settings. Use a toothpick or a knife. Push it into the center. If it comes out clean the biscuit bread is done. If it has batter on it, cook a few minutes longer until it comes out clean. IMPORTANT BAKING CONCEPT: If the outside is too brown and the inside is not done through, your heat is too high. If it is raw in the middle and not too brown, you haven't baked it long enough. If the inside is done and dry and the outside is not brown, the heat was too low. You could possibly brown it using a broiler for less than 30 seconds! Or you're using some heat source that doesn't brown things. The same thing applies to pancakes and anything else made with flour or ground grains. P.S. This recipe uses baking powder because that is what is commonly used for "quick breads". This is a "quick bread" as opposed to a "yeast bread" that has to rise before baking. I will have to get some of these:
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[+] cooking » *Welcome Leigh Tate, author of How to Bake without Baking Powder! (Go to) | Maggie Salomonsson | |
Oh cool. People could have used that book last year when you couldn't buy yeast or baking powder anywhere for months. Maybe we won't all have to get a sourdough starter going?
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[+] pasture » Managing excess iron & acid soil (Go to) | Gail Gardner | |
I know this is an old post but I am just now seeing it. It isn't as expensive as you might think. When I lived in Texas I had my soil tested and then spread fertilizer and minerals on most of 117 acres. It couldn't have been super expensive or I wouldn't have been able to afford to do that. But I had a really hard time finding what I wanted. Mostly they thought I was crazy to even want it. After contacting every fertilizer place in the four surrounding counties, I finally found one that could do it. But they couldn't get everything in a powder or in a liquid. So I had them spray some of it in liquid form and I hauled a big dry bin with a spinner that flung the powdered form out the back. I broadcast the dry on both the permanent pasture (driving in between the trees) and where I planted winter grazing. The liquid was primarily sprayed on the half that was planted in winter grazing and in the three acre paddocks because they couldn't maneuver around areas with a lot of trees. One thing I contacted the test company about was their recommendations. They only pretty much recommended nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. I questioned why they didn't recommend magnesium. They said that it was high enough. I countered that because the nitrogen and other nutrients there were super high, that in balance the magnesium was too low. They agreed and I put out more magnesium as that is an issue for horses (and I was breeding Thoroughbreds for racing at that time). I also had them recommend all the micro-nutrients which is what I used to order them. Today, I wouldn't do it that way although it could still be done. Instead, I would just spray Mycorr Plus which I plan to do where I live now. In Texas, I had very highly fertile black dirt (which was exceptional for growing pasture and wheat, oats, rye grass but would have been terrible for a garden. In Oklahoma, I live in a hickory oak forest of very poor soil. Someone previously planted a pasture mix heavy in vetch and clovers trying to improve it. I grow primarily in containers because of that, but will work to make fertile areas. RE: MINERALS FOR HORSES: I give mine Himalayan crystal salt free choice. Usually I can get big chunks of it which I prefer. But when I can't I will use coarse ground or even fine ground. It contains a balance of what they need. That said, the orange color in it indicates iron so you want to seek out some that is pale pink instead. Nutrient values are in https://www.saltean.com/himalayan-pink-salt-minerals/ Also be aware quality and purity varies greatly. So use a quality source. Mine comes from Black Tai Salt Co.. The owner Gerald Katen has horses, too. The chunks and broken pieces are not on the website. I contact him directly to request it. Note that supply chain issues were causing a problem in 2020 and may still be. RE: HORSES FEET: What horses eat greatly affects their feet. My horses that are 50% Hancock quarter horse and 50% TB have great feet. Thoroughbreds typically have awful feet. However, because I increased how much Thrive Feed my TBs get, their feet are greatly improved. Thrive Feed is primarily alfalfa and Timothy hay with minerals. |
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[+] ducks and geese » Feeding ducks on what we can grow (Go to) | Sam Peet | |
Must be just yours. My ducks love zucchini, squash, pumpkin, canteloupe, watermelon and all the other produce and plants I mentioned above. They will even eat the rinds of all of those. |
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[+] ducks and geese » Feeding ducks on what we can grow (Go to) | Sam Peet | |
Wheat berries can be sprouted or grown into fodder (no soil required). I do both. The ducks love the soaked wheat that doesn't sprout and also the sprouts grown 6-7 days. They will eat the fodder if they're hungry enough, but they're not crazy about it. Fortunately, my horses love the fodder. So I feed what grows to them and what doesn't to the ducks. You can also sprout field peas or plant them for grazing. They won't grow into fodder. I sprout peas and sunflower seeds for the ducks (and sometimes me). You can grow peas, sunflowers, buckwheat, radishes and salad mix with brassicas and mustard in it into delicious microgreens. I don't grow enough to want to share mine with the ducks though! I would plant lambs quarters. It grows wild like a weed especially wherever the ground has been disturbed by poultry, horses or other animals. The manure makes it grow huge. Lambs quarters produces a ton of seeds and all above-ground parts of the plants are relished by ducks and poultry. Our ancestors called it "fat hen" according to Eat the Weeds. It is also very healthy for humans to eat: young leaves as salad, older leaves as a pot herb cooked in water like any other green or stir-fried. Lambs quarters may already grow on your land if you have any areas that aren't manicured. And it is one of the easiest plants to correctly identify due to purple shading and a white powder. This is young lambs quarters: These plants can grow 6-7+ feet tall when grown in manure. And they stay green well into winter (through December where I live). The seeds are easy to harvest. I laid some big plants on the concrete bad porch and let the seeds fall off and then scooped them into a container. Or you can put them in a paper bag and let them dry then shake into the bag. My ducks love leaves from all the plants that grow into the fall and through the winter. They absolutely love sweet potato leaves and brassicas, too. I feed mine leaves from cabbage, kale, broccoli, cauliflower and the leaves and roots of radishes and beets. After a hard freeze killed the pea plants, the ducks still love to eat the plants. 55 Things You Can Safely Feed to Ducks – Fruits, Veggies & More! There are other weeds that stay green in winter that ducks eat. There are very good lists of which are safe and what isn't safe in Duck-Safe Plants and Weeds From the Garden What can ducks eat straight out of the garden? |
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[+] gardening for beginners » Not-killing houseplants. Aloe seems brown thumb friendly. What else? (Go to) | Michelle Heath | |
I agree. Aloe Vera thrives on neglect. I bring mine in outside in the fall before the first freeze. (Hard freeze WILL kill it.) I put them wherever no light or some light doesn't matter. And I rarely water it because I don't want it growing in the winter. I just want it to over-winter as is. The ones in indirect light put on pups. In the spring after all risk of frost is past, I repot all the pups + put the mother plant in a bigger container. I water once in a while during the growth period, but not a lot. It doesn't want to stay wet all the time. OTHER HOUSE PLANTS THAT ARE EASY TO KEEP ALIVE These all need regular watering and some light to thrive: Herbs like basil. Water regularly and always harvest the new little leaves -- not the big primary leaves. ![]() Mints of any kind: peppermint, lemon balm, etc. If you plant it outdoors, be careful as it will take over. https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fusercontent2.hubstatic.com%2F3196071_f496.jpg&f=1&nofb=1 Green onions - eat the greens all winter. ![]() Little tomatoes and bell peppers in a sunny window. I grow tomatoes year round in a east or south facing window. Mine are trellised to a wire on nails above a double window. https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fbalconygardenweb-lhnfx0beomqvnhspx.netdna-ssl.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2019%2F06%2Ftomato-plants-on-a-windowsill-growing-tomatoes-indoors.jpg&f=1&nofb=1 Charlie plants - easy to start from leaves; hard to kill. ![]() Spider plants aka airplane plants another hard to kill. When they get rootbound they put off pups. I sit the mother plant's pot on the ground and put little pots around it for the pups. Cover the bottoms, wait for them to root, then cut the stem between them. ![]() AVOID: Ferns unless you live in a sauna or they're not real. ![]() |
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[+] cooking » "Soft and slippery" pasta salad with whole wheat noodles -- help me brainstorm recipes/methods (Go to) | Dan Boone | |
Have you tried any dressings that contain vinegar? I've noticed that when I made the mayo with Balsamic vinegar instead of lemon juice that seemed to produce a softer wheat pasta more similar to white pasta. If you use bottled dressing, you could add a tiny amount of flavored vinegar and see if that makes a difference. |
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[+] gardening for beginners » Garden / soil help please (Go to) | Sonja Draven | |
A potato fork has wide flat tines and the handle is usually shorter or may have a place to put your hand. A manure fork also known as a pitchfork has long, thin tines that are often more curved and often a longer handle. A seed fork is really wide with a lot of tines and gets way too heavy for me to use for moving manure. A broad fork is used to loosen the soil. I'll try to share a photo here: ![]() "From left, a spading fork, digging fork, manure fork and broadfork. (Barbara Damrosch/BARBARA DAMROSCH)" from Washington Post. |
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[+] gardening for beginners » Garden / soil help please (Go to) | Sonja Draven | |
You want to know that broad-leaved "stuff" was growing and not just grass. Here's how to Test soil or compost for herbicides and what plants are affected. And here's a video: |
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[+] gardening for beginners » Garden / soil help please (Go to) | Sonja Draven | |
I don't want to discourage you, but horse manure can sometimes be problematic. Sadly, some people are using herbicides that are so persistent that they don't break down even when composted. So you have to be very careful to only use manure from animals that have not been eating any pasture or hay that was sprayed with these kinds of herbicides. Some people are doing test plantings a few weeks early because the damage these herbicides do doesn't show up until plants are a few weeks old. I hope that the manure you got is free of anything like that. Creating new soil is complicated, and some components tie up nutrients as they break down. Hopefully, someone with more advanced skills than I have will be able to read through what you've done and give specific suggestions. |
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[+] chickens » Inbreeding animals on small farms (Go to) | Brody Ekberg | |
That is a very good question. My personal opinion is that the best animals I've ever had came from crossing purebreds from 2 different breeds. So, for example, my favorite dog was 50% Border Collie and 50% Blue Heeler. Doing this provides hybrid vigor and an outcross that greatly reduces any weaknesses caused by inbreeding in the original 2 breeds. I did the same with horses. When I no longer bred registered Thoroughbreds (TBs) for racing, I outcrossed them to AQHA (quarter horses / QHs) so that my younger horses are 50% TB and 50% QH. In so doing, I retained the endurance and quality of the TB side, but greatly improved their feet, made them easier keepers, and gave them strength to do work around the homestead should that become useful in the future. Many horse breeds are very inbred, but only through the best lines. TBs we typically avoid inbreeding closer than 2x4 or 3x3 because close inbreeding often results in much smaller offspring that are potentially unsound for the purpose intended. That close they tend to be dominant breeding animals and when it works, outstanding performers. On the other hand, QH breeders often breed extremely closely. Daughter to sire (father) matings are common, especially in lines where people are trying to increase or maintain very high inbreeding co-efficients. The lines that inbreed are typically working horses rather than racing horses. And QHs are often less inbred to start with than TBs which can trace their lineages back to the 1800s. That said, most QHs carry TB bloodlines if you go back far enough. They just don't have records because the AQHA is a young breed of horse. When I decided to get ducks, I am doing the same thing. My drakes (males) are American Pekin aka Long Island Pekin and Buff. When I acquired more females, I bought Silver Appleyard, Buff, Rouen and Khaki Campbell -- primarily Silver Appleyard. All of these breeds were developed from the same duck lines (Ayershire and Mallard principally), but the ducks I have would not be related to each other (except 1 Pekin female). I thought horse color genetics was complicated; duck color genetics is even more complex and the available tools aren't as useful. In case anyone is interested: BUFF The buff ducks are a result of a cross between Indian Runner, Rouen and Aylesbury ducks. PEKIN (American Pekin is actually a Long Island) original Pekins descended from mallards and were upright like runners. American Pekins were developed by crossing with Aylesbury ducks. Silver Appleyard Created by crossing Rouen, Pekin, and Aylesbury. Appleyards as previously mentioned are light phase restricted mallards. The restricted mallard gene (M^R) is reportedly dominant over its alleles (M+ & m^d), & was called "restricted mallard" largely due to melanin restricting action in duckling down. very young pure bred Appleyard ducklings are ususally yellow-ish with only the "mohawk" & tail showing dark pigmentation. As the ducklings age dark pigments do come through Rouen Also referred to as Giant Mallards, they are descendants of wild mallards developed in France Khaki Campbell To begin, Campbell crossed an Indian Runner that was an exceptional layer with a Rouen of good size. Later, she bred the resulting offspring with a Mallard to develop hardiness in her breed. Next, Mrs. Campbell wanted a particular buff coloration, so she added Penciled Runners to the mix. The end result were the attractive, excellent laying Khaki Campbells that we know today. CROSSES Pekin over Silver Appleyard Mallard x2 / Aylesbury x2 / Rouen / Pekin x2 Pekin over Rouen Aylesbury / Mallardx2 Pekin over Khaki Campbell Aylesbury / Indian Runner x2, Rouen, Mallard x3 (one from the Rouen) Buff over Silver Appleyard Indian Runner, Rouen x2, Aylesbury x2 Buff over Rouen Indian Runner, Rouen x2, Aylesbury, Mallard Buff over Khaki Campbell Indian Runner x2, Rouen x2, Aylesbury If anyone is interested in inbreeding patterns, I'm happy to answer questions. In TBs, we intentionally linebreed one family, especially through the best females and then outcross from that family while simultaneously linebreeding another family in the same pedigree. Studying how cattle ranchers brought in new sire lines can be useful. And I suspect that would work well with most livestock. They intentionally inbred to determine whether their breeding stock carried any negative recessive traits (so they could cull them). But then they typically outcrossed or linebred once they knew a line was solid. When choosing breeding stock, the conformation / health / disposition of the offspring is more important than that of the parents themselves. Sometimes, a beautifully put-together mare will through bad foals and a mediocre mare will throw good foals when bred to a better stallion. I used to call those "pass-through" mares = mares whose own genetics were so weak that all her offspring resembled their sires. |
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[+] ducks and geese » Raising happy adult ducks (Go to) | Gail Gardner | |
It really depends on the duck. Right now I have 4, 1 male Buff (I think), 1 male Pekin and 2 female Pekins. They seem to have paired off with 1 female to 1 male. But strangely, one of the females seems to be kind of a loner duck. The three others bed down together in the daytime and she is off to herself. But at night, they all 4 sleep as close to the LGD puppies as they can. And I see the smaller Pekin female swimming often. But the other 3 don't seem that interested in swimming. That is kind of weird, too. But where there were so many ducks, who knows how many liked to swim vs how many didn't? There was no way to tell with that many. |
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[+] dogs and cats » Little baby Molly (Go to) | thomas rubino | |
These are my puppies when they were about 8 months old.
![]() This is their Dad (1/2 Great Pyrenees 1/4 Border Collie 1/4 Australian Cattle Dog aka heeler) and Mom (1/2 Great Pyrenees 1/2 Australian Shepherd). ![]() They naturally herd and guard the ducks which is what I want them to do once they settle down a little and I get them trained. |
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[+] pep » forage gardening (Go to) | Inge Leonora-den Ouden | |
I've been making plans very similar to yours. Here are some of my ideas:
Lay fallen wood above and below wild plum trees and other edibles. Cover it with leaves and the dark soil scraped out from under big trees. Then dig a trench above it and put that dirt on top of what you already have. My thought is you slow down the water and let it soak in while feeding the wild tree so it has better fruit. You could also graft plum or peach or whatever works on that base tree to get better tasting fruit. If you have a lot of these, maybe the deer and turkey won't eat all the fruit before you get to it. They left my peach trees alone and I get quite a bit of fruit off the wild trees even though there are a lot of deer and turkey here. That could be because there is a ton of buckbrush covered in berries and sumac everywhere. Maybe they prefer that. I've also harvested Chanterelle mushrooms, blackberries and what I believe are huckleberries. Those are all located far from any buildings in an area heavily utilized by the deer and turkey. (I see them nearly every time I go out to the blackberry patch.) Found what I believe to be service berry trees (aka June berries), but I forgot to check them at the right time. My plan is to borrow some of the decomposing wood and dark soil from under trees near the wild fruit trees and shovel some manure if any is handy, and chop/drop some greenery around those fruit trees to naturally fertilize them to produce better. Another idea is to find an area where a tree fell and is decomposing. Scatter a mix of seeds near that trunk (or even just fallen branches) and see what wants to grow there. Then plant more of what took off or just let it spread naturally. Winged elm seems to be a pioneer species in Oklahoma. Wherever branches or tree trunks lay decomposing, winged elm pop up around them. So another idea is to plant pits and seeds from various fruit trees (peach, plum, apricot, apple, pear, fig, etc.) in among the winged elm. They may provide some protection from deer while the trees get established. I know that fruit doesn't breed true, but if it isn't tasty to eat off the tree I would make jelly out of it. Or possibly graft other varieties onto it. If a tree produces well, I could consider fencing it off later. Where water runs down a hill, wild plums and winged elm get established. Use the first idea (slow down the water and increase fertility) multiple times as that water runs towards the pond (which overflows and causes erosion -- so there is clearly more than enough water to divert some of it). Plant guilds on each mound: 2 fruit or nut trees, 1 nitrogen fixer, 4 berry bushes (gooseberry, black current, red current, blackberry, raspberry etc.) between the trees and 30 perennials (TexasBoys comfrey, herbs, garlic, chives, rhubarb, sweet potatoes) around the trees and bushes. Modify the quantity if necessary, but I'll try for that and put in several of these between 3 existing wild plum trees and the pond that water is running into. |
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[+] dogs and cats » Little baby Molly (Go to) | thomas rubino | |
What breed? My puppies are about 9 months old now, but not quite as large as yours. |
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[+] ducks and geese » Raising happy adult ducks (Go to) | Gail Gardner | |
Hi Amanda. Success meaning getting eggs or reproducing? I lived on a place that had about 160 ducks. He never culled the males so some didn't have females and others had from 1 to 3. I have 2 young pairs now, but they just started mating and no eggs, yet. Ducks love dried soldier flies and meal worms. I buy mine off of eBay. Mine eat sprouts I get from SerenitySprouts. I put Agrilabs VITAMINS & ELECTROLYTES PLUS on their sprouts daily. I get that from eBay, too, but you can buy these things at farm stores and some feed stores. They need oyster shell when they're laying eggs. Predators are always a major problem. The day I was gifted with my 4 ducklings (by someone who knew I planned to get ducks -- but AFTER I was set up for them) - I bought 2 Livestock Guardian dog puppies. I have electric poultry netting and used 1 fence to split it diagonally. The puppies are on one side (until they're more mature and calmer) and the ducks on the other. I also have fishing line criss-crossed above the fence to deter hawks. And I have Night-Guard repellent tape strung up all the way around to deter all kinds of predators. It flashes really brightly off the outdoor light when the wind blows (and it blows most of the time here). But the puppies (which are now 50-65+ lbs each) are the primary reason I haven't had predator issues. |
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[+] trees » Black v. Honey Locust (Go to) | Gail Gardner | |
Mesquite spread like crazy in east-central Texas (down in Falls County, for example). They grow ok in NE Texas around Kaufman County, but don't get nearly as big and don't spread as much. I haven't seen a single Mesquite tree since I moved to SE Oklahoma, so that may give you an idea where they like to grow. I suspect that Honey Locust is the Mesquite of Oklahoma. |
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[+] conservation » Cooking a turkey might save energy? (Go to) | john mcginnis | |
Roasting a turkey is a great use of energy even for people who live alone. Thanksgiving dinners turn into how many additional meals? Personally, I eat turkey and leftovers twice a day until the white meat and a little of the red meat runs out. (I love turkey and this is my favorite meal.) Right after the first turkey meal and the stuffing has been removed, the entire rest of the turkey gets turned into turkey stock for turkey soup all winter long. Everything I cook I tend to make many meals of and sometimes weeks of meals out of so communal living or not, we can all use power wisely if we cook once and eat many times. |
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[+] permaculture » Dreaming up a chestnut, hickory, oak system (Go to) | Ed Waters | |
I don't know if it is squirrels or just acorns dropping everywhere and then being washed along when it rains. In the hickory-oak forest I live in, there are baby oak trees everywhere. I wish I knew someone who wanted them as some of them need to go. I'll probably end up cutting them off at the ground to keep them from blocking the driveway and taking over the pasture areas unless someone wants some first. (SE Oklahoma Seminole County) |
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[+] permaculture » Dreaming up a chestnut, hickory, oak system (Go to) | Ed Waters | |
I forgot to mention that in the hickory-oak forest where I live, the clearings have been planted in what is obviously a soil-building pasture mix. It contains a lot of clovers and cattle vetch as well as coastal and other grasses. Soil is being built by: The pasture planting and grazing Downed trees, branches, leaves, wild plants that are decaying Mushrooms breaking down trees Grazing animals including wildlife depositing manure Weeds that pull minerals out of the soil and deposit it as they decay There are crop plants you can use as cover crops that can also be harvested for food or grazing including peas, turnips, legumes and no doubt many more. |
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[+] permaculture » Dreaming up a chestnut, hickory, oak system (Go to) | Ed Waters | |
I live in a natural hickory-oak forest where persimmons also grow wild. They may not be the kind of oaks you would want (small acorns). But they grow on hills in poor soil that varies from pure sand to pure clay to pure rock. There are a lot of creeks and hills and valleys (small hills and valleys) that are natural here. Our average rainfall is 43" a year. Using animals to graze back the underbrush is now considered by some to be far superior to using fire. See Allan Savory's advice (videos on YouTube) including this one: Animals have grazed this entire place. There are clearings with grass that has been grazed by cattle, horses, and either sheep or goats in the past. There are also a lot of deer and turkey that live and/or pass through the property. Animal manure would provide more nitrogen for your nut trees on all kinds of terrain. Using equipment to clear land or trees damages the roots of the trees you leave behind. Any time you do work that damages roots, you need to cut the trees you want to keep back severely. If you don't, within 5 years they are likely to gradually die off. I know someone who bought a place for the trees and accidentally killed them clearing to build his house. And I knew the tree expert a huge cattle company employed. It was his job to mark the trees to save and to get them topped and cut back by 1/2 so they didn't die. The bulldozer operators also knew not to get under the branches of the trees. The roots are typically the same distance out as the branches grow. My horses travel everywhere on this place - hills, rocks, trees although I wonder why as there is no grass up in most of the trees. Maybe they're eating the trees and underbrush. Cattle would, too. A mix of livestock is best because they don't graze and browse in the same ways. Goats and sheep are great, but harder to keep in fences (especially goats). No one has made any berms, but the land is naturally not flat. There is little erosion because the hills are either covered by trees or grass or rock. Same with the creeks. They are mostly lined with natural rocks with trees along the edges and moss. I believe the hickory-oak forest in NC couldn't be too far from you. You could go observe the natural version. This might interest you: Piedmont Forest Succession |
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[+] soil » Can we actually make soil the way mother nature does? (Go to) | Jon Stika | |
I have plenty of rocks in SE Oklahoma. Wondering it is it easier to bring the rock to the crusher or the crusher to the rock. :-D |
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[+] permaculture » grass in an orchard (Go to) | Tim Kivi | |
An old-timer told me that Mesquite opened up the ground and allowed grass to grow under it during droughts. We had a really bad drought in Texas and the ONLY green grass was under the Mesquite trees. So there could be something to that. Also, any tree pulls minerals up through their roots into their leaves, branches, fruit and that then ends up as topsoil. In wetter areas, persimmon trees and grasses spread where water stands after heavy rains. Then other trees spread from existing trees outward. That reminds me of pioneer species. |
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[+] tiny house » Need feedback on pros and cons of using Polar Sheds as a tiny house (Go to) | Gail Gardner | |
The best deals are from watching their Facebook page for special offers. I ended up finding a house on 160 acres and moved so I didn't need one after all. But I still watch their sales in case I can pick up a building sometime. They have a group you can join to see the specials at https://www.facebook.com/groups/polarsheds/ |
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[+] fruit trees » Big branch of my peach tree broke off. Any way to save the peaches? (Go to) | Chris Sturgeon | |
I had 2 branches break on the peach tree here just as they were getting ripe. Like you, we got a lot more peaches this year. I didn't thin them because the wind is so strong it was thinning them already. if they have any color at all, they will typically continue to ripen. Just put them on a counter in the house and wait for them to ripen.
I did that and some got dry and I ended up cutting them in small pieces and feeding them to my ducks. But others ripened normally and I ate or froze them. |
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[+] bugs » Horse-Fly and giant horsefly in cattle (Go to) | Lorinne Anderson | |
If they're out on the lake do you have a floating house set up for them out there? Do you not have snapping turtles there? I'm thinking I will need to set turtle traps and catch and relocate any snapping turtles before it is safe to let the ducks on the pond. |
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[+] frugality » our grandparents and frugality-the green thing as a way to reduce - (Go to) | Gail Gardner | |
Yes, newer nails can be straightened, but I have had no success getting them to actually drive straight when re-used. I suspect the composition of the metal used for nails has changed over the years. The new ones are just too soft to re-use. I remember re-using nails long ago without these issues. |