First Post!
- Thread starter Satanta
- Start date
WB, I always knew you really wanted to be a stay-at-home mom...
Freeholdfarm
Inactive
I wonder how many people on this board actually consider themselves homesteaders? I do -- and was actually raised on a homestead in Alaska that was filed on under the original Homesteading Act (now defunct -- both the homestead and the act).
Kathleen
Satanta, I have been putting off doing that very thing for the last month. I really need to get it into a new compost pile, just can't seem to find the energy right now. We have had soooo much rain the past 10 days my grass is really getting ahead of me, so I have to mow that first, then clean the chicken house, then the barn! Always a project tht need to be done around the farmstead especially this time of year - only about 90 days till snow again!
mucking stalls
Hey...I've been mucking stalls for three days. We purchased one of those little miniature manure spreaders and I have been going crazy filling and refilling with all the 'stuff' that got put off for the winter months. My husband likes to drive through the fields with his four wheeler so he is in charge of getting rid of the manure.
I've also been outside working on a container garden for the first time in my life. I'm not a real fan of gardening but so far the container gardening seems to be a lot easier. Bad knees and bad back limit my heavy duty activities.
Are there any TB2Kers out there with container gardening tidbits? The people I have been talking with...not gardeners...say container gardening is a waste of time yet I see all sorts of stuff singing it's praises in magazines.
Willow...sore back and clean barn
Hey...I've been mucking stalls for three days. We purchased one of those little miniature manure spreaders and I have been going crazy filling and refilling with all the 'stuff' that got put off for the winter months. My husband likes to drive through the fields with his four wheeler so he is in charge of getting rid of the manure.
I've also been outside working on a container garden for the first time in my life. I'm not a real fan of gardening but so far the container gardening seems to be a lot easier. Bad knees and bad back limit my heavy duty activities.
Are there any TB2Kers out there with container gardening tidbits? The people I have been talking with...not gardeners...say container gardening is a waste of time yet I see all sorts of stuff singing it's praises in magazines.
Willow...sore back and clean barn
Christian for Israel
Knight of Jerusalem
goatlady2 said:
heck, we got snow this morning!
Kathleen, I'd love to here more about your growing up years in Alaska! I consider us homesteaders even though we only have a little over 2 acres and no animals except an ancient dog(about to get guineas though. Its a state of mind more than anything, but we do raise a lot of our food (gardens, berry bushes and fruit trees) and put it up by canning or freezing; cut, split and heat with wood, do as much as we can for ourselves, etc.
housemouse
Membership Revoked
Willow, I do a combination of container gardening and raised bed gardening, which really are just bigger containers without bottoms.
I think you will like it a lot, as you can minimize the weeding and watering, use just hand tools, and grow the same amount in less space.
I put up a few links on another thread somewhere, but can't remember right now. If you have any questions, just ask, and I will do my best to give you the straight info.
I think you will like it a lot, as you can minimize the weeding and watering, use just hand tools, and grow the same amount in less space.
I put up a few links on another thread somewhere, but can't remember right now. If you have any questions, just ask, and I will do my best to give you the straight info.
Willow, I've done a lot of successful container gardening, making my own soil mixes and stuff. There are many pros and cons to container gardening. What kind of tidbits do you want?
Well, what type of container is best? Deep or shallow or a combo? Soil. I did some with potting soil and some with rabbit manure at the bottom and then potting soil. I even used an old shallow wheel barrel to put lettuce in.
Can you take containers in the house and continue to get crops in late fall and winter? I have some big south facing windows and wondered if I could have tomatoes, green peppers and lettuce all year long.
I am thinking that, if I could figure out the best way to container garden, I could use containers to grow veggies and herbs as part of ongoing preps. Is this a crazy idea or has someone done this before?
Are there plants that just don't do well at all?
Willow
Well, what type of container is best? Deep or shallow or a combo? Soil. I did some with potting soil and some with rabbit manure at the bottom and then potting soil. I even used an old shallow wheel barrel to put lettuce in.
Can you take containers in the house and continue to get crops in late fall and winter? I have some big south facing windows and wondered if I could have tomatoes, green peppers and lettuce all year long.
I am thinking that, if I could figure out the best way to container garden, I could use containers to grow veggies and herbs as part of ongoing preps. Is this a crazy idea or has someone done this before?
Are there plants that just don't do well at all?
Willow
I have the ultimate container garden. It is an 18' boat. We put tree limbs and rocks in the bottom after we drilled holes in it. Then we began to mix manure, top soil, sand, peat moss, and garden soil to fill it. I have been using it for 5 years now and it grows very nice leeks, garlic, green onions, shallots, and lettuce in winter. My garden has a clay underlayment, so it doesn't dry very well in the spring. It has to be tilled in January before the spring rains begin, or wait till May. The boat gives me the opportunity to start seeds, get seedlings from the greenhouse going better, and grows great alliums.
I will need to add some soil to the top soon as it has settled and I like to have it up where I can get to things easily. I'm old and it makes for easier planting/weeding/harvesting on an old back. I use an adjustable cultivator tool to aerate and weed. I usually let the onions go to seed there so I can get new seeds every year.
Mushroom
I will need to add some soil to the top soon as it has settled and I like to have it up where I can get to things easily. I'm old and it makes for easier planting/weeding/harvesting on an old back. I use an adjustable cultivator tool to aerate and weed. I usually let the onions go to seed there so I can get new seeds every year.
Mushroom
No, you're not crazy. Doing a garden in containers is the only way some people can have a garden. I started container gardening indoors in Montana when it became clear to me that an outside garden was going to take way too many years and too much money for me to invest the work needed.
Uhmm...the best containers for growing are the free ones. I grow tomatoes and roses in 5 gallon buckets and lidless ice chests which I find as roadkill. Peppers grow well in one gallon pots and coffee cans. I also use recycled tree pots, half-barrels...anything that holds dirt. Many of my smaller or shallow pots have a chunk of foam rubber stuffed in the bottom to retain moisture.
Yes, you can bring tomatoes and peppers in to prolong their season. You will have to hand pollinate the flowers to get fruit. They will go dormant for the winter soltice, but you should have tomatoes for Christmas dinner. After Christmas, prune the tomato plant back and with the right handling, you should get another season out of it. Contrary to popular belief, tomatoes are not annuals. Lettuce and peas will grow anytime, anyplace.
A problem with bringing in plants from the outside are bugs. Outside there are natural predators to keep them in check. Indoors, they are free to take over every plant they can get.
The soil mix I use is supposed to be good for 3-6 years of growing and is easy to make. I use a coffee can and a soup can for scooping and measuring and mixing until I have a garbage can full.
3 scoops garden soil
3 scoops peat moss
1 scoop sand
1 soup can scoop bone meal
I start mulching with rabbit poop the second year.
Uhmm...the best containers for growing are the free ones. I grow tomatoes and roses in 5 gallon buckets and lidless ice chests which I find as roadkill. Peppers grow well in one gallon pots and coffee cans. I also use recycled tree pots, half-barrels...anything that holds dirt. Many of my smaller or shallow pots have a chunk of foam rubber stuffed in the bottom to retain moisture.
Yes, you can bring tomatoes and peppers in to prolong their season. You will have to hand pollinate the flowers to get fruit. They will go dormant for the winter soltice, but you should have tomatoes for Christmas dinner. After Christmas, prune the tomato plant back and with the right handling, you should get another season out of it. Contrary to popular belief, tomatoes are not annuals. Lettuce and peas will grow anytime, anyplace.
A problem with bringing in plants from the outside are bugs. Outside there are natural predators to keep them in check. Indoors, they are free to take over every plant they can get.
The soil mix I use is supposed to be good for 3-6 years of growing and is easy to make. I use a coffee can and a soup can for scooping and measuring and mixing until I have a garbage can full.
3 scoops garden soil
3 scoops peat moss
1 scoop sand
1 soup can scoop bone meal
I start mulching with rabbit poop the second year.
Freeholdfarm
Inactive
Well, I started to reply earlier, but something happened to it.
Deena, Alaska is a long story -- or a lot of short stories! We had a lot of fun growing up there; I love the state, but I don't love the seven months of snow on the ground that we had where we lived! Dad raised barley, potatoes, and hay on our place. The dairy cows were at a friend's place. And we had a garden and strawberries. Other than that we mostly got our meat by hunting and fishing, and picked a lot of wild berries.
Here we have one acre of land, and are trying to get a lot of things done, as we just moved here a couple of months ago, and it's pretty much a bare lot. I have chickens already, in a chicken tractor but for the winter they'll go into one of those cattle panel hoophouses. Also I have an old-fashioned working farm collie. He's almost four, so it's about time to find him a lady friend and think about breeding the next generation. By the end of the summer I plan to have added Kinder goats, meat rabbits (probably Silver Fox), and Pilgrim geese. We've already planted some fruit trees, but would like to plant more next year, plus a bunch of berries and some asparagus. I've started planting the garden . . . I have this list of projects as long as my arm! But as you can see, you can do a lot on a small piece of land.
Kathleen
Deena, Alaska is a long story -- or a lot of short stories! We had a lot of fun growing up there; I love the state, but I don't love the seven months of snow on the ground that we had where we lived! Dad raised barley, potatoes, and hay on our place. The dairy cows were at a friend's place. And we had a garden and strawberries. Other than that we mostly got our meat by hunting and fishing, and picked a lot of wild berries.
Here we have one acre of land, and are trying to get a lot of things done, as we just moved here a couple of months ago, and it's pretty much a bare lot. I have chickens already, in a chicken tractor but for the winter they'll go into one of those cattle panel hoophouses. Also I have an old-fashioned working farm collie. He's almost four, so it's about time to find him a lady friend and think about breeding the next generation. By the end of the summer I plan to have added Kinder goats, meat rabbits (probably Silver Fox), and Pilgrim geese. We've already planted some fruit trees, but would like to plant more next year, plus a bunch of berries and some asparagus. I've started planting the garden . . . I have this list of projects as long as my arm! But as you can see, you can do a lot on a small piece of land.
Kathleen
ARUBI
Inactive
Camasjune
Thanks for the soil recipe. I've been doing container gardening (small scale ) for 2 yrs. now. I have a recipe in my files, but will try yours this yr. It's so much easier on my back (herniated disks). I've found basicly no weeds and good produce. Working full time 2nd shift (which we prefer) leaves little time to fuss. I want good results, from good planning. This is one that we made "pretty" because it was on the road side of the property
Thanks for the soil recipe. I've been doing container gardening (small scale ) for 2 yrs. now. I have a recipe in my files, but will try yours this yr. It's so much easier on my back (herniated disks). I've found basicly no weeds and good produce. Working full time 2nd shift (which we prefer) leaves little time to fuss. I want good results, from good planning. This is one that we made "pretty" because it was on the road side of the property
