I was going to get the cornish x but for 3 or 4 extra wks and the same feed amt total i thought i would try these for half price. 25 birds w tax and shipping came to just at 41 bucks. ordered o. a tuesday got them on thursday.
steam canner is a diff pot. used to be sold as steamer juicers but its really getting popular now. ppl will say the fda doesnt recommend it but the fda has never even tested. so its not like tbey can say one way or the other. my friends mom used one in the 70s and cannex thousands of jars every yr and swears by it so i started studying and asking aeouns. she bought a new one and i have open access to it. she bought it online a few months ago.
yes i learned about the pens the hard way. my pen was not good enough when i got kidd and he was free range for over a month and ha lf.
planning to make the move to self-sufficiency
What breed are your roos? Are they meat birds?
I did read about somebody who canned their own grape juice using steam. Must be the same process.
I had to get rid of my last goat because of fencing problems. Goats require tight fencing and the low strand has to be very low. My hot fence kept shorting out because of weeds on the up the hill part of the fencing and I am not physically able to get around on the hillside and keep it clean. She didn't go anywhere when she got out but she kept getting into my garden. When she got into my strawberry towers and ate all the plants off the runners it was time for her to go. I gave her to a friend who already had goats and better fencing than me. She is very happy there and they love her. It was a win win. I took apart all the old fencing and refenced the downhill lot for my pony. I replaced 36 posts with just 17 posts and 6 strands of wire with 2. It looks so much better now and it stays charged. I will refence the hillside at some point with just two strands of wire.
How much property do you have?
I have 3 acres of rocky hillside in the woods. when i say hill i mean im gonna have to terrace steps into the bottom of one side to use it. lol. The roos are meat mix. some are a light red some are black. I was gonna breed kidd this fall but due to circumstances my nanny cant be mived. so i will wait. sorry about the misspellings. getting used to touchscreen on my phone. grrrr.
I know all about rocky hillsides. LOL I had my goats on the steepest part of mine. There are a few flat spots on it that I could have built a few raised beds but I was not able to get up there easy enough to work it and I had no water up there. I would have had to build raised beds because there is no topsoil up there. It is mostly sand and rocks.
The good thing about pygmies and dwarfs is that they can be bred anytime of the year. Dairy breeds are seasonal breeders meaning they only come into heat at a certain time of the year but the others can be brought into heat anytime of the year by bringing a buck around. The good thing about that is that you can breed for early spring kids if you have good shelter.
I miss having chickens and I may have them again but it is not feasible right now. I can buy free range yard eggs for $2 a dozen at my feed store and I can't feed chickens for that.
I am hoping to have fiber goats . eventually but for now i will stick with meat dairy cross. I have a lot of work ahead for terracing actual beds. this yr i just plan to plant where i can. and i will work from there. lol. there r some good groups on fb for ideas too and i am learning so much from others. u all r incredible.
Do you spin?
Not yet. but i knit and crochet and would love to do my own spinning too. do u?
No. My sister knits but she buys her yarn. She also quilts. She has made a quilt for each of her grandkids. She has 3 sons and they have 16 children between them and are expecting 3 more in January. Two of her DILs each lost a baby last year. So my sister will be quilting again. LOL She also makes them each a doll. They look like ragedy Ann and Andy dolls but their names are Ragedy whatever the child's middle name is. She embroiders the name on the hat. She is quite crafty. My Momma was an awesome seamstress but I suck at it. Can't be beautiful and talented, I guess. LOL LOL
i hope everyone had a great christmas. mine was extraordinary. i still can hardly wrap my mind around it. my parents have offered to help me get a bigger flatter more farmfriendly placepe is great but i will never be able to make a profit or even break even selling it should i decide to. its a rocky hillside with very poor soil so gardening is a huge undertaking. and i have no heat besides space heaters. they worry about me being where i am in winters. so im on the search for at least 5 acres with a fixer upper house and a good place for animals and a garden. just so happens the area i am looking at a place sold 2 yrs ago and is abandoned now. it is 50 acres with 2 story farmhouse and an older barn and it sold for 20k. there are lots of places abandoned.like that. the problem is tracking down the owners. so im praying and searching and thanking God for parents who have come around to my mindset. they will never have to buy an egg or vegetable. lol
You are blessed indeed. Best wished for your search.
Our Christmas was uneventful. No family so we just laid low.
How is your search going? Any luck yet?
Sorry its been so long. Life has gotten in the way of the search.
I hated it when that happens. :)
As it happens, plans have changed. Life has happened, and time has passed. I am no longer living in Arkansas. I moved to my hometown in Missouri about a month ago. So now I am really taking stock of my life and deciding what is realistic and what is pipedreams. Tiny homes are still in my list of options. I just keep coming back to them. Who knows?
I am sorry to hear this. I know how excited you were about your place and building your dream there. I hate that did not happen for you. But God knows everything and He holds us in His hand. He knows the future that we cannot see and that is why we have to trust Him to do what is best for us.
What kind of place are you living in now and what is your situation? Renting, ect? Were you able to bring any of your animals with you?
I too am fascinated with tiny houses. I know I could live in one but my dear husband could not. He borders on being a slob and he has hoarding tendencies. LOL I would end up killing him.
I wish you well and look forward to hearing how you progress with your life chnages.
I am renting a studio apt. So, no, cajun.... i wasnt able to keep or bring my animals. Im literally starting over nearly from scratch. As far as the tiny home idea, i could easily hoard if given the space so i feel like the smaller my living quarters, the more mindful i must be. Lol. Im sorry i wasnt quicker in responding, life just seems to be rushing by. How has life been for u and urs? Hope ur having a blessed holiday season!
We are doing well. God has blessed us and I prefer to think of my blessings rather than my problems. Everybody has them and will until we get to Heaven.
We have downsized also. Still live in the same spot but we only have two cart ponies, a dog and a cat. My son came and got the last two big horses and took them to the boys in Louisiana. No sense in us struggling to clean stalls and feed horses all year and the boys only getting to ride a month in the summer. In Louisiana they can ride all year. The horses are turned out on several acreas of deep grass so it is better for everybody even though I miss them. I have a really nice little barn fixed for my ponies. The dog has a couple nice spots and the cat comes and goes where she wants so winter will be good for us all.
I still enjoy my gardening. In fact, I have expanded it by planting in tires. I am really enjoying having space to try new things. I got my Baker Creek catalog yesterday and will be buying a few new things to try. I am also toying with the idea of having a table at the farmer's market come spring. Since the horse trailer is gone I have more flat space I can put more tires. Getting the dirt is the hardest part. But I still have ponies and friends with horses so I have a couple big muck piles I can dig in to my heart's content. Or at least until I get tired. LOL
I hope you have at least a bit of room for some containers to garden in a bit. There are new varieties of veggies that do very well in containers. And I hope you can get back into a place of your own soon. Did you sell your property in Arkansas?
It was an owner finance and I let it go back. It was an expensive and painful lesson. I kind of let my parents and brother talk me into leaving it. I think I followed their advice trying to salvage some sort of relationship with them but alas I have no home in the woods and no family. So I shall start a new somewhere else.
I don't have a place for container gardening where I am. But this year I'm devoting to me and my health. Losing weight, my goal is to run a 5k by the end of the year.
We had some horrible flooding here right after Christmas and it was a reminder of the power of the mighty river. I have missed my sweet Gasconade even when she's rolling and roaring, she is a piece of home to me.
It was an owner finance and I let it go back. It was an expensive and painful lesson. I kind of let my parents and brother talk me into leaving it. I think I followed their advice trying to salvage some sort of relationship with them but alas I have no home in the woods and no family. So I shall start a new somewhere else.
I don't have a place for container gardening where I am. But this year I'm devoting to me and my health. Losing weight, my goal is to run a 5k by the end of the year.
We had some horrible flooding here right after Christmas and it was a reminder of the power of the mighty river. I have missed my sweet Gasconade even when she's rolling and roaring, she is a piece of home to me.
I'm sorry your dream faded, but perhaps there is something better yet to come...
I am so sorry. I know it must be hard. God can still bless you. Lean on Him and follow His lead. His plans are to give you a future and a hope. His word says so.
I miss the bayou. I have been here in Ky for almost 12 years and while I love it and love the people, I still miss the bayou. The sights, the smells, the very spirit of the place.
It is wise to focus on your health. We are dojnf the same thing. We have found a wonderful product that has helped us both immensely. I won't clog up your thread with it, bht if you ever want to know about it just send me Dmail.
How are you doing now with your race preparations?
We are deep into plans for the garden. We will have a booth at the farmers market and are very excited about it.
My subscription is up soon and I will not be renewing. I am CherylSteve Byers on facebook if you would like to keep in touch. Hope all is well with you.
I quite understand. This forum has become a ghost town.
Sadly that is true. Even after the posting slowed to a crawl, I kept my subscription so I could use plant files but with the changes to it, I cannot figure out how to use it. I find it much easier to just google things.
I am angela pressler on fb. let's keep in touch