Garden – plans for this year of 2013

Chickens (Photo credit: Allie’s.Dad)

I am getting into backyard farming this year, out of necessity because my pay is not keeping up with inflation and the health care premiums are going up, leaving us short in our household budget.

So I am hoping to make up for it somewhat by growing at least 2-3% of my food this year, and hopefully 3-5% next year, after I expand the vegetable garden, and get the raised bed chicken tractor built.

I am designing the raised beds around 4 foot long planks cut from 2×4, 2×6, 2×8, 2×10, and 2×12 by 8 foot or 16 foot boards, and using 3.5 inch long deck screws to screw the beds into 4×4 foot squares.

I arrange the beds so there is just a little less than 2 feet of space between them for walkways, and I use 12 inch square pavers to line the walkways. This way the beds sit on top of the pavers for leveling and less contact with the soil. I treat the wood of the raised beds with linseed oil and let it absorb and dry completely, then line the raised bed with one or two layers of corrugated cardboard  and fill them with compost/soil mixture.

When I build the wooden frames, I also attach a piece of 2×2 on the inside corners, but offset so they stick out the bottom about one inch. This way I can stack multiple beds for extra depth for veggies such as carrots, as well as stacking the chicken tractor on top of the beds as well.

As the chickens clean up the bed(s) they have access to, by churning the soil and eating every last seed, bug, and plant until there is nothing but soil, I move their tractor house to the next bed, and their run as well, and let them continue to clean the newly accessible bed(s).

The raised bed I move the tractor house from, now is well composted, has nitrogen and nutrient rich soil, that I will plant heavy feeders into the first season, and then alternate with low demand plants, followed by fallow or cover-crop, and then several other crops before I run the chicken tractor over it again.

I have part of this system in place, but I still need to built the 4×4 chicken tractor and 4×4 chicken run that will go on top of two beds, and a connector between the two so the chickens can get to the run.

I will also build a few beds that will be either 4×6 or 4×10 foot and pull the walkway pavers they would straddle, and have some bigger beds to work with for such plants as garlic and cabbages, etc, where I either need lots of plants or lots of room for a small number of large to huge plants that will require a lot of growing space.

I know, this sounds quite ambitious, but that is what I have been working towards for the last three years since I have moved into this house.

I will try to keep blogging about my garden endeavors as I find time to record my efforts. Hopefully I can get some pictures added as well to add tot he documentation of what I accomplish this year.

 

Related articles

• Gardeners’ Dirt: Get more yield in less space (victoriaadvocate.com)
• Gardening with Laurie: Recreate nature’s soil (victoriaadvocate.com)
• Calvin Finch: Growing fruit (mysanantonio.com)
• Raised Garden Beds (modernhomesteaders.net)
• garden q&a: lush plant produces no tomatoes (triblive.com)
• How To Breathe Life This Spring Into Your Tired Garden Soil (frommichigantomontana.com)
• Fruit plants require TLC (mysanantonio.com)
• How do I use my compost? (ask.metafilter.com)

 

Free Kindle Books – 2013.01.28

A while back I discovered the Joybilee Farm blog that has almost daily posts with links to Kindle books being offered for zero dollars for a limited time.

So, I noticed that some of the recommended books in the ribbons below the current title also have the occasional zero dollar offer, so I decided when I find some of these, I will be offering my own list of books as well.

Keep in mind, any time after today these books may return to their normal Kindle price.

Here goes (click the image to go to Amazon page):

What the Cluck?! An Alternative View on Raising Chickens [Kindle Edition]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How To Handle The 4 Most Common Relationship Problems [Kindle Edition]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

organic herbal gardening (d”r garden) [Kindle Edition]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brew Great Beer: The Homebrewer’s Guide to Brewing the Best Damn Beer in Town… for $3 per 6-Pack [Kindle Edition]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bug Out Bag: What You Need In Your B.O.B. [Kindle Edition]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Survival Guide for Beginners [Kindle Edition]

Things Mother Used to Make A Collection of Old Time Recipes, Some Nearly One Hundred Years Old and Never Published Before [Kindle Edition]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mother’s Remedies Over One Thousand Tried and Tested Remedies from Mothers of the United States and Canada [Kindle Edition]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Home Vegetable Gardening -a Complete and Practical Guide to the Planting and Care of All Vegetables, Fruits and Berries Worth Growing for Home Use [Kindle Edition]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The American Frugal Housewife [Kindle Edition]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Circle Of Friends 25 Breakfast & Brunch Recipes [Kindle Edition]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Circle of Friends Cookbook 25 Chili Recipes [Kindle Edition]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Declutter Your Life: Reduce Stress, Increase Productivity, and Enjoy Your Clutter-Free Life [Kindle Edition]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How to Save Money at Home: A Room-by-Room Guide to Cut Spending [Kindle Edition]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Delicious Grilling Recipes: 127 Easy Grilling Recipes [Kindle Edition]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fearless Parenting. Raising a Child to Face the Adult World. [Kindle Edition]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 2011 Book Blogger’s Cookbook (The Book Blogger’s Cookbook) [Kindle Edition]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Quirky Pot Luck Recipes [Kindle Edition]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This concludes this post for the time being.

I have more books but not enough time to post all the books at this time. Maybe i can add on more later or post another blog entry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Horoscope – 2013.01.19

Bottled Water (Photo credit: EasyEcoBlog)

CANCER Jan, 19, 2013

If you’re having trouble figuring out how you will make it through a difficult situation, then just resolve to take it one day at a time. If that doesn’t seen doable, then take it one hour at a time. You are in a stressful phase right now, Moonchild, and you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. Even so, you need to realize that the light is there. You may be standing in the shadows and unable to see the light, but as soon as you get through a lesson the universe is now guiding you through, you will see the light in all its dazzling glory. Meanwhile, persevere.

This is more or less how I live my life, one day or one hour at a time, but I always keep the future in mind.

I hate living my life not preparing in any form or fashion for the future. I don’t prepare for disaster, because no one knows what kind of disasters will come your way, rather  I prepare so I can live in the near future the same way I live in the present. I stock up on some food and supplies, when something is on sale or I break something, I buy one or two extras of whatever I need, that way I have spares on hand, at least for some things, like flashlights, batteries, matches, tinder, etc.

People that purely put their faith into their God, hoping and praying he will provide for them just for believing in him are clueless and don’t know their own faith. You will be judged on your actions, not on your faith. I don’t care what religion you believe in, your actions are what you need to look out for, your God already knows your faith. And it may surprise some readers of my blog that I even went there, as I have stated before that I am not religious, more spiritual than anything.

Anyway, living your life you can really do in many intervals.

For general living and existing, the hour by hour way is best, especially at work, and you might actually live minute by minute to get your work projects done.

Next would be the day by day living, here you plan for the next few days, such as for upcoming doctors appointments and such, as well as planning family meals. You look at your supplies and figure out what you are short of, you may only one can of beans or corn to fix a meal, or maybe you have all the boxed or canned items, and just the need the fresh ones, like meat or fresh vegetables.

But while you are checking your boxed or canned items, you might discover you only have one can of something left. So you get one or two extra cans of the item on your shopping trip.

Next are the longer term preparations.

Weekly, where you look ahead two or three months, you should check to see if you need to order birthday presents online or through a catalog, to take inventory of such things as bottled water, extra propane tanks for your grill, if the spares are empty, you set them out so you see them every day, and when the extra funds are available to fill one or two, you do so.

You also check your garden and wee what all is about to ripen up, and plan meals around your harvest, you check for store sales and stock up on end-of-season items for next year. Maybe some more winter gloves or summer flip-flops while they are on sale.

Finally, for the Monthly, Quarterly, Yearly, and longer term cycles, you set goals, such as increasing your stored food and water reserves from a 3 day supply to a 7 or 30 day supply.

By planning for these increases in supplies you keep on hand, you are reducing your dependence on central authorities, and if you never need the supplies for yourself, you can use them to help others, maybe in your family or your neighborhood. Or, by not having to purchase groceries or propane this month, you can help someone financially or donate to your charity or buy that bigger birthday gift without upsetting your household status quo.

Related articles

• Horoscope – 2013.01.18 (rmolby.wordpress.com)
• Horoscope – 2013.01.15 (rmolby.wordpress.com)
• Horoscope – 2013.01.11 (rmolby.wordpress.com)
• Horoscope – 2013.01.12 (rmolby.wordpress.com)
• Horoscope – 2013.01.05 (rmolby.wordpress.com)
• Horoscope – 2013.01.13 (rmolby.wordpress.com)
• Horoscope – 2013.01.10 (rmolby.wordpress.com)
• Horoscope – 2013.01.14 (rmolby.wordpress.com)
• Horoscope – 2013.01.06 (rmolby.wordpress.com)
• Horoscope – 2013.01.17 (rmolby.wordpress.com)

 

Horoscope – 2013.01.12

English: RepRap v.2 ‘Mendel’ open-source FDM 3D printer (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

CANCER Jan, 12, 2013

Are you feeling lucky, Moonchild? Since you’ve suffered more than your fair share of difficulties lately, you may be feeling more unlucky than lucky, but events of the next few hours or days should change all that. The universe is working in your favor, and you must also have a guardian angel or two summoning up bright blessings for you, because your world is about to get so much better! Think in terms of greater prosperity, creative fulfillment, and even a bit of fame, perhaps. It may seem too good to be true – but it’s true!

Well, this plays on my previous horoscope. I really would like to get into 3D printing so I can make things for around the house, replace broken parts all over the house and maybe on my old 1988 Jeep, but most of all, making things for my garden experiments.

I have some ideas how I could improve the functioning of my vegetable garden to increase the productivity of the plants, giving me better harvests and more healthy, more naturally grown food to nourish my body.

And I suppose, if those gadgets could be mass produced, maybe I could make a living from the income?

 

Horoscope – 2013.01.10

ideas (Photo credit: Sean MacEntee)

CANCER Jan, 10, 2013

You are teetering on the edge of a new and exciting idea. You are hesitant to take the plunge and to make an attempt at turning the idea into a real opportunity. You fear you could make a mistake, or maybe you’re just afraid that no one will take you seriously or will think you’re thinking is faulty or even flaky. Then again, Moonchild, if you’re really onto something – and it’s likely that you are – this idea could transform some area of your life in a wonderful way. Think of terms of the possibilities this idea could ultimately bring – they include prosperity and fulfillment through a creative pursuit. It’s certainly worth looking into.

Wow, okay, in previous horoscopes I was told some “wonderful, happy future” is imminent, and now today’s horoscope. Too wild.

Let’s look at the above though; the statement that I’m really into something… well, I really am into gardening, of the food variety kind. I love to nurture food plants in my backyard garden. I would love to have more time to dedicate to it, so I could grow more things, and hence eat more from my garden.

Then the second thing that struck me is the “creative pursuit” statement. For the last 15 years or so, I have worked in the computer support and centralized IT world, and as part of my knowledge I have learned about 3D printing using machines like MakerBot and RepRap. I have been imagining printing 3D contraption or inventions that will help me further my gardening efforts.

I am not ready to reveal my ideas for the 3D printed parts, yet, but maybe this is my creative part I need to discover?

Related articles

• What’s Your Sign? (lorensworld.com)
• More Followers, Horoscopes & Fears (yasminezikry.wordpress.com)

 

Riparian Buffer Nations

Riparian strip, Putnam County, Ohio, Lake Erie tributary. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Alright, I’m returning to a subject I am very interested in, and I have covered in a previous post.

Riparian buffers are a protective area along water features such as rivers, lakes and ponds that provide protection of the water habitat from off-site pollution, as well as providing habitat for plants and animals that require clean sources of water and food.

In the previous post I talked about acquiring property along riparian zones, and finding people to live on, and manage those riparian buffer lands.

Maybe we need to take this one step further, maybe those of us that believe in such an endeavor should form a union, gather as a folk, or nation, write a constitution, and take possession of riparian buffer lands through legal means, including using angel investors that believe in protecting the environment for future generations.

I could envision contiguous buffer zone lands to become small tribal areas, with multiple families assisting each other with the protection management of the riparian buffers they own and control, and these tribes could then cooperate in each bio-regional area to become riparian buffer nations comprising that area, yet all the bio-regional buffer zone nations could also be members of a continental and/or global Riparian Buffer Nation (RBN) that transcend nationalities and all cooperate for the common good of the planet.

I envision the tribes to conduct their business a lot like Native American Indians conduct their tribal business. Since these Indian tribes are very connected to their land(s), they already have very well established ways to manage and protect the land and a life style that is connected to the land, and water, and biota on the land, and we can learn a lot from them how to conduct ourselves.

So I propose to write a constitution that will focus on protecting the land that provides to us our own life in the form of clean water and uncontaminated food grown in a biota protecting manner so future generations are not stripped of their means of supporting their own and their children.

I would venture to say that a few, if not many Native American Indian tribes would welcome such a project, and help us new tribes by teaching us what it means to live in harmony with nature, and maybe become members of the greater Riparian Buffer Nation.

Being that I currently live in the USA, but was born in Germany, I have two diverse lifestyles I have lived. Both societies have their good and bad, and it is difficult not the be biased, but I can say the founders of the USA thought far ahead when they wrote the Constitution of the United States of America, so I will make an attempt at writing the first few article of constitution for the Riparian Buffer Nation (RBN) using the US Constitution as my model.

So, in future posts I will write up each article of constitution, and if anyone, especially lawyers would like to chime in and make suggestions and/or corrections, I will welcome comments to those posts and if I deem the comments valuable I will incorporate it into the applicable article.

Well, it is time to move on and get back to real life here in working land and time

Related articles

• Alabama landowners partner to keep water unpolluted (al.com)
• New paper: Predicting novel riparian ecosystems in a changing climate (janecatford.wordpress.com)
• Federal Funding in Green Infrastructure Making A Difference (earthtechling.com)
• MillerCoors and River Network Announce Winning Organizations to Receive $50,000 For Watershed Protection Programs (prweb.com)
• A Clear Answer to Clean Water (clarksvilleonline.com)
• What is ecosystem restoration? (dvidshub.net)
• Sighted: Cottonwood Trees (thewellnessalmanac.com)

 

Hidatsa Shield Beans

Beans (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hidatsa Shield Beans – Sustainable Seed Co.

I have ordered these beans from Seed Savers but have not tried to sow them yet, maybe next year, but I want to record the description from Sustainable Seed Co. since it describes the Three Sisters planting method really well.

From the above linked site:

Seed package contains 1 oz. or about 50 beans.

Deep in the Missouri River Valley of North Dakota the Hidatsa Indians grew this pole type drying bean in their corn fields.  The Indians were masters of growing plants that were helpful to each other such as the “Three Sisters”.

How the Three Sisters work…Beans/Corn/Squash
The Indians planted the corn first, once it was a few inches in height, they planted the hidatsa beans at the base of each corn stalks.  Normally 3-4 hidatsa seeds per corn stalk.  Then they planted squash.

This is how that works out…the corn gives the beans something to grow on.  Thehidatsa beans fix nitrogen at the base of the corn, helping this hungry veggie grow.  And last but not least the large squash leaves take over the ground crowding out the weeds and shading the ground as well saving precious moisture.

Hidatsa beans are very prolific and make a great crop of dried beans to put away for the winter.  You need to figure on planting a number of them if you want pounds put away for your pantry.  Try the Three Sisters method in the corn patch!

TIP  Let your beans dry on the vine unless weather threatens, then pull and hang the entire plant upside down in the barn/garage to dry.  Now take a clean garbage can or burlap bag and put your hidatsa beans in it.  Now, the fun part.  Beat he heck out of the beans.  If you are using a burlap bag you can beat it on the floor or stomp on it.  The idea is to get all the hidatsa beans free of their shells.  Now take this combination of beans and shells to winnow.  That means, by either using a fan or the wind let the shells blow away.  I use two big rubbermaid containers.  One empty on the ground and the other full of beans I slowly dump into the empty one letting the chaff blow out (fan or wind).  That is it!  Now you have your own 100% organic dry beans ready to feed your family anytime you want!  Not to mention all the money you will save.

Related articles

• Corn and Bean Price Explosion; More to Come? (hoosieragtoday.com)
• Three sisters follow up (alderandash.wordpress.com)
• Three sisters (well, almost) (alderandash.wordpress.com)
• Why are beans considered a meat and vegetable? (goldenrule.com)

 

Sustainable Seed Co.

Wheat, rye and triticale, montage of pictures from the USDA (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Alright, the first website I bookmarked from my podcast show notes is for the Sustainable Seed Company.

The actual link I followed is to the quinoa page. This link is in relation to some seed varieties mentioned on the podcast. So when I decided to read the rest of the site’s seed varieties, I discovered several useful pieces of information, about the seed varieties as well as discovering additional valuable information.

Wit this post I will be chronicling my discoveries.

Moving back on the site by one level, took me to the Heirloom Grains page. The page lists Amaranth, Barley, Bread Poppy, Buckwheat, Flax, Millet, Oat, Quinoa, Rye, Sorghum, Spelt, Triticale, and Wheat. Many of the categories list almost extinct varieties, and I plan on ordering a few of them since this seed grower is in souther California which has similar harsh climate as I do here at my urban home stead.

After reading about the grains a bit, I moved on to the vegetables. They carry Artichoke, Asparagus, among others. On the asparagus page I noticed an old seed catalog page thumbnail was used to enhance the page content. This intrigued me, but it was too small to make out much useful information. I moved on to the Bean page, which also showed a thumbnail image. Moving on to the Beet page the thumbnail was of an old, old seed packets of beet seed. It was by a seed company called Maule, the seed packet said Maule’s Blood Turnip Beet, so I reached via Google for Maule’s seed, and I get a hit with the Internet Archive for a PDF of a 1946 catalog, which I promptly downloaded.

This spurred me on to continue to look at all the categories on the site to find more references to old catalogs. I moved on to the Broccoli pagem and the thumbnail there showed Johnson E. Stokes Garden and Farm Manuals, and one of the Google search results points me to the USDA’s NAL Image Collection of old catalogs. This page mentions that all the images are from the Henry G. Gilbert Nursery and Seed Trade Catalog Collection. This second page lists 4 PDFs of old seed catalogs.

Moving on to the remaining main pages of the site I am researching all thumbnails and see if I can find any more PDFs of the catalogs and will list them below.

Lastly, I noticed some useful information regarding techniques or seed information I didn’t know, and will document in separate posts.

Related articles

• Heirloom, Organic & Hybrid. Knowing the Difference (farmfoodieandfitness.com)
• More seed-vending machines for city (thehindu.com)
• Seed Catalogs – The Gardener’s Winter Pastime (rubylane.com)
• Starting Seeds and Transplanting: A Beginning Farmer/Gardener Guide to Growing Healthy, Organic Plants from the Kerr Center (slideshare.net)

 

Riparian Buffer Zones

View of urban runoff discharging to coastal waters (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have noticed how when civilization encroaches on the riparian buffer zones, that the watershed always suffers in process, eventually to be reduced to storm water runoff channels and canals.

Being someone that can see the environmental impact of people on nature, I am always appalled by the results of civilization. Lately, I have noticed the effect a lot when looking at Google Maps or Google Earth.

Lately I have thought I should start a non-profit organisation that finds angel investors that are willing to invest into the non-profit, and use the funds to buy up Riparian Buffers Zones, and hire environmentally aware people to live on these lands and to manage them, gathering runoff from the city and filtering it, catching the nastiness like engine oil and tire dust and other gook, and then using the partially decontaminated water to grow fuel crops on small patches and parcels of the purchased land.

In some areas of cities, the runoff ditches would not lend themselves to living on them, but the easement strips along those runoff channels and ditches constantly require mowing and weed management, so they could be used to grow more fuel crops instead, so with some smart water channeling, the runoff water would grow crops, the crops would convert waste water and organic compounds in the water into fertilizer and irrigation, and the fuel crops in turn could be used to run part of the operation’s equipment and vehicles, either in the form of converting the biomass into ethanol to run in E85 vehicles, or turned into Syn-Gas to run electric generation plants which then power some of the operation’s infrastructure.

There are other positive side effects to doing this, one of which is turning areas that normally grow invasive or allergy causing weeds that use up precious fossil fuels (for weed control), into areas that produce a product for the amount of fossil fuels utilized to manage the areas, and if managed properly, these areas would not require toxic weed management techniques or supplies, and the land would slowly become less and less toxic as the biological action in the soil can begin to break down the toxic compounds already deposited on the land.

Then, if we use IP enabled remote sensors and a WiFi private LAN to manage and record the sensor data, we can monitor and manage the Riparian Buffer Zone(s) with minimal personnel, and concentrate on planting and harvesting fuel crops and improving the environment.

Anyway, I needed to record this phase of my though processes, hopefully I can pursue this further in future posts.

Related articles

• Lexicon of Sustainability: Salmon safe (grist.org)
• Foresters, Tree Farmers, and Conservationists Applaud Rep. Wilcox for Protecting Rural Jobs & Renewable Energy (prnewswire.com)
• May 20-21, 23-24: Riparian grazing workshops connect clean water, profitability (wsunews.wsu.edu)

 

Chicken Coop & Raised Beds

Image via Wikipedia

Well, I used cereal box cardboard and newspaper to cover up all the major openings to my chicken coop, and that seems to keep the majority of the heat from the electric heater inside to at least keep the water dish from freezing.

I really need to get a portable chicken coop built that fits right on top of my raised bed frames. What this will allow me to do is to house my chicks in a much more wind and cold proof envelope, and the chickens will churn up and mix in their poop from the roost with the bedding material that is below in the raised bed frame.

I will have a trap door on all four sides of the coop so I can connect a chicken wire cage to any of the four sides of the coop to allow the chickens to also work a raised bed next to them that I have pulled out of production or is a brand new bed that needs to be weeded.

For the bedding material I will use a mixture of leaves, shredded newspaper and brown cardboard, as well as small sticks and branches on the very bottom.

I had this exact setup at my previous place, and it worked quite well. The resulting mix of chicken poop, paper, cardboard and some kitchen scraps all churned together by the chickens was a nice, fluffy, humus with a trace of topsoil and rough bits of wood chips. It had a nice earthy smell and was super rich and friable, perfect to side dress existing plants or plant heavy feeder plants right into it.

So, this will be my first project for the spring.

Related Articles

• Chicken Manure in the Garden: Mother Earth News excerpts Gene Logsdon’s Holy Shit (chelseagreen.com)
• Chickens In The Backyard (tinychoices.com)