Bob Waur

Thinking about getting some Dexters. I have had Beefmasters in the past. My question is how many acres of managed pasture per cow should I have in zone 8a to raise grass fed Dexters? I understand there are a lot of variables but would like an informed guesstimate so as to have a place to start. I have four 10 acre paddocks to rotate the cattle through.

My nest boxes are outside the coop and have a sloped lid that extends 3" past the boxes on all sides. boxes are attached to the coop with 3" blocks 4" down from lid to permit it to be opened. I only get a trace of water inside if there is a hard blowing rain. The boxes are 12" X 12" with a 3" lip and are floored with 1/2" X 1/2" hardware cloth and I use dried grass clippings for bedding. The chickens 'rework' the bedding and I only have to add more as it sifts through the wire. No actual cleaning unless a chicken poops and then it binds with the grass clippings and can be lifted out in one clump. This has only happened about twice a month, so it is quick and easy.

I have an abundance of Sahuaro chilis and am looking for ways to preserve them other than drying or chopping them up and freezing them. They are so tasty fresh that I want to find the best way to possibly retain as much flavor as I can. Any suggestions appreciated.

Just get the standard sink strainer basket stopper thingie. Then all you have to do to clean the sink is to pull the stopper, same as in the kitchen.

"Sunlight and micro-organisms break down methoprene rapidly in soil, water, and on plants. In soil, about half of the original amount is gone within 10-14 days. In water, it takes 1-28 days for methoprene residue to break down by half, depending on the availability of sunlight. "

The Methoprene will be spread in the manure.
I would wait up to 1 year, considering you will be consuming the eggs.

I appreciate all the responses to my question.
I avoid putting much in the freezer because I have frequent power outages, some up to two weeks, from tropical storms, hurricanes and just sorry service. Lost a whole side of organic beef one year because I couldn't get gas for the generator.
I have eaten K rations containing a canned cinnamon roll and MREs with cobbler, so I am sure there has to be a way. I just need to find the way those are done. The cobbler in the MRE was pretty good, granted, the pastry part was more like dumplings. The only references to how MREs are made say they are boiled. I don't believe that is all the facts as that would only go to 212 degrees and that definitely isn't sufficient for the items containing meat. Gotta keep looking...

There has to be a way to make fruit cobbler in wide mouth mason jars that is shelf stable. Google is no help. Perhaps an oven recipe? Anyone know of a way to do this? Any help appreciated, I am overrun with blueberries and peaches and was thinking how great it would be to just open a jar for dessert...

Being up in age, we both have aches and pains daily. We commiserate all the time and arrived at the name 'Belly Acres' for the homestead to forewarn visitors of what they will have to listen to.

I try to figure out the best placement of new plants. I take in account light, drainage, soil type, and water. I try to envision future changes to find the best placements as the plants grow . I plant 10% more plants than I wish to end up with knowing I will loose some and others will not reach full potential because of my not understanding all the factors affecting the plants in the future. I let the plants figure out the final "design" and teach me what my errors are so that I can do better with future additions. I have learned to not be in a hurry to put in new varieties until I have studied the present successes and failures. After all, we need to evaluate the latest additions through all four seasons to be able to understand the possible mistakes we have made and to be able to do better in the future. I try to do a walkabout through the forest every day and just observe how things are growing.

Pearl Sutton wrote:Hi Bob Waur!
Fixed! And you know it's not a button, it's a line in your profile settings, right? If you don't know this, read back earlier in this thread, there are pictures...
Have a great day!
:D

Thanks Pearl!
Have a great day!
Bob