Like many I have limited storage space. So I’ve been moving more towards dehydrating  and vacuum packing. There’s advantages in both space saving and longer term storage of produce that would spoil rather quickly in comparison to fresh.

  Early on I posted a little about dehydrating, while I had used a dehydrator for years to make jerky I was pretty green on everything else except banana chips.

  I’m constantly trying and learning new things. I currently have cucumbers, carrots and jalapenos dehydrating, and I will add beets this coming season as well.

  I decided to grind my last batch of jalapenos to use as seasoning.  You can buy it easily enough but I’m working towards being as self sufficient as possible.

  This was done in a small blender, I ground and chopped until the peppers were a fine powder, I then walked away and allowed the dust to settle for some time before attempting to remove the lid. When I came back I gently lifted the lid off, placed the paper plate over the top of blender container and flipped it upside down onto the kitchen table. Once again, I walked away for some time to allow the dust to settle. Trust me when I say you won’t regret waiting longer than you think you should to let the dust settle. Slow and easy does it.

  If you decide to do jalapenos I’d encourage you to wear rubber gloves as well as watch some videos on youtube or at least talk to someone who has done it. If you breath in the dust or fumes or get them in your eyes or nose you will be very sorry! It’s quite painful and easy enough to avoid.

  That being said I take no responsibility for anything anyone else does. Know what you’re doing, protect yourself with appropriate PPE and be careful!

  Much of what I’m dehydrating I’m grinding into powder. The cucumbers will be kept as chips for snacks or rehydrated for salads and such.

  The carrots and beets will be powdered for a varity of uses. You can easily Google uses for the powders.

  For my jalapenos I used a makshift dryer to get them started. After a couple of days of sunshine on a Summer day I find I can finish them indoors with out much issue.

  I have also learned that by leaving the peppers whole they can be dehydrated indoors without a great deal of eye burning. You will no doubt smell them as they dry but it will depend on how sensitive you are to the capsaicin I believe. I personally found it similar to the smell of roasted peppers when I dried my Anaheims.

  Since I’ve started this I have also dehydrated cilantro and onions.

  Do not, I repeat do not try dehydrating onions in your house! If you fail to heed this warning, you will cry and your entire house and everything within will reak of onion for days, if not weeks. And if you live in an apartment, your neighbors will cry and hate you.

If you want to dehydrate onions I highly suggest you find a place outdoors or in a garage or other shed outside the home to do it in. I personally think they taste better than store bought but make sure to think it through before making your first attempt.

  I will assume if you do this in a garage where you park a vehicle it will smell like onions for some time in said vehicle and you should assume the same, so don’t be upset with me if you cry while driving your car. And yes the smell is that strong and it will hang around.

You may also want to try to do this as far away from others as humanly possible to keep the peace with those living around you.

Best of luck in all your ventures!

I’m a bit premature with this one for sure but I’m gearing up to start my seedlings. I waited last season until I was supposed to have. However much of what I started last season from seed failed to produce.

We had a pretty toasty Summer and it just got too hot too fast, so while I had excellent plant growth, they just didn’t set bloom. I don’t know of anyone around here that actually had any real luck with tomatoes.

I did have one cherry tomato plant that went crazy and put on lots of tomatoes. They were good too, I fail to understand the difference. It was around the same size as the rest when I put them all out.

What you see above is what I will be using to start my seeds this year, I figure with the larger sizes I can start them a bit earlier and they shouldn’t get root bound. Or at least I certainly hope not.

The plants for sure will not get root bound with the soil blocks as they air prune. I tried a couple last year but they were not big enough to hold much moisture and dried out pretty quick. I’ve worked on my soil mix and think I have it pretty well figured out. Weather permiting I will use my new improved, larger soil blocker and see what comes of it. Of course it’s snowing here as I write this.

If your not sure when to start your seeds this map may help you.

https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/

I do have a flat of beets started already, the reason being is I had put a 50′ row out in the garden and none came up. So I decided to see if my seeds were any good. Almost every one sprouted, so now I have around 60 beets chomping at the bit to be put outside. I’m of course hoping I can keep them going until it’s safe to transplant outdoors.

There are also lots of ways to start your seedlings and no doubt you’ll have tried one or more by now, unless this is your first time growing, most that I have tried have left me wanting for something better to be honest. I’m hoping the soil blocker is all I hope it will be.

It’s a modified design of one I found the stl for on http://www.Thingiverse.com. The latest one I 3D printed is a little over twice as big as the original and I made one that will form two at once.

I’d considered buying a commercial blocker but for my current budget, they’re a bit pricey for now. If I can make money with selling plants then my view may well change.

Along with selling plants and growing a food fotest, I’d like to start a market garden to have a steady income.

Best of luck to you in your ventures, make sure to study up on what your growing, at least a little bit. The more you learn the easier things become.

  I have often seen others questioning how they can best recycle or repurpose their old tin cans. Some of the cans that processed foods come in are aluminum and shouldn’t be a problem to recycle. Though that may depend on the salvage yard you have access to.

  The one that is local to me refuses old oil filters and spray cans, even if crushed or cut and cleaned. While another some 215 miles away considers them number one scrap.

  One claims the smelter refuses them while the other says they will take all I can bring them and will give me top dollar. My guess is education on what is actually considered hazardous waste or dangerous. This is a bit outside the meaning for this post but intended to show that where you live may dictate what, or at least how you’ll be able to recycle.

  I’d suggest you call a few scrap yards if your intentions are to collect cans to sell for scrap, they will likely not pay a great deal if they do buy them but any money for something you’d be throwing away otherwise can’t be bad.

  There are at least a few books out there on working with tin and specifically with tin cans. If you have a creative bent, perhaps you could make things that could be sold for a decent profit.

  Here’s a link to some ideas, it’s loaded with advertising but maybe you’ll find an idea or see something that sparks an idea for you. https://sustainmycrafthabit.com/upcycled-tin-can-crafts/ I have no affiliation with this site.

  I have seen where people remove the tops and bottoms of cans, cut them on the seam and then flatten them out to be used as small shingles and or siding on dog houses or chicken coops. Also the lids can be used in the same way and would look similar to fish scales.

  Not too mention these flattened out bits of metal could be used to make repairs on other sheet metal. In an old farm house I once lived in, someone had used flattened out tin cans to cover mouse holes in cabinet drawers and such.

  I have even seen aluminum cans flattened out and used as shingles, though personally I think it’d be better to cash them in but to each their own.

  One thing I’m wanting to try since getting my anvil is making something along the lines of Damascus steel and forge a knife from some tin cans. It should be noted that cans will have some sort of lining that should be avoided, especially if your heating them in a fire for any reason.

  The best option is too obviously avoid metal canned foods, then no need to recycle and limited exposure to the chemicals used to line the cans.

  Do what works for you! I was going to include the name of the book I bought but can’t for the life of me remember what it was called, and naturally it’s buried in storage which is another topic I’ll tackle on here one day.

  Last year went out with a bang, or perhaps more of a whimper. Spent the last two weeks of 2022 being sick.

  I finally broke down and went to the doctor, still having issues breathing but feeling better.

  I’m starting out the new year with the dehydrator filled to capacity. I found bananas at .39 cents a lb so bought 10 lbs. I also am experimenting with some different vegetables that I haven’t tried before. I figure longer term storage is my goal, along with keeping a full pantry.

  There are a lot of things in the works for 2023 and if I’m going to get half of them done, I’ll need to hit the ground running.

  I will have my live plant dealers license in time for Spring and plan on having at least 1 to 2K worth of plants to offer as well as most if not all of our own plants for the year.

  An industrial size dehydrator is also being built as well as the finishing touches being put on the green house.

  Plants will be started a little earlier this season. Last season it got to hot too soon and the tomatoes that I had started from seed failed to fruit. My starter pots will also be bigger, I’m using the red Solo cups so roots will have plenty of space to grow.

  A fourth compost pile has been started or rather, restarted. When I’d left the other property a little over two years ago the pile was close to four foot high, when I restarted it, it was closer to two foot high. The one pile is for things that will take longer to break down or that would be too hot to use right away. I’m also going to try Vermicomposting again, it was a failure last time and I’m not 100% sure why.

  It’s my hope that I will have plenty of compost to run the greenhouse with. Not sure it will be a money maker for us but being able to grow more of our own food is priceless.

Thank you for stopping by and may you have a fantastic new year!

We’ve all seen the srories about re growing plants from left over pieces of produce.

But does it work? I personally have had limited succes trying it, in fact unti only recently I’d had nothing but failures.

But then I found part of a forgotten cabbage way back in the back of the fridge still in it’s original packaging. I’d cut off part of it expecting to use the other half for a meal the next day but plans changed.

While cleaning the fridge I found the lonely cabbage in a terrible state and decided it was headed off to the compost pile.

However on dumping it out I noticed it was just the outside leaves that had turned, the part I’d cut off had all but regrown and there were new roots started at the base of it. So I peeled off the bad part and brought it back in.

After having no luck in the past I decided to try things differently for a change. So I put a little rooting hormone powder on the base, put it in a small flower pot and then into a zip lock bag, letting it drain out the excess water from soaking the dirt first. I don’t think you need rooting hormone, I just happen to have some on hand.

A week later and it’s growing well!

My new method with a zip lock bag as a mini green house seems to be working well. I even have an onion growning using the same technique.

At first I exhale deeply into the zip lock bag to hopefully give a little CO2 to help growth, make sure to leave a small gap in the zipper part so your plant can breath.

I’ve lost count how many times I have tried to grow an onion from the old root part of an onion I’ve cooked but everytime they have dried up or rotted away before growing. This time I actually have some greens growing and roots are growing into the soil as well. I tried to pick up what you see in the picture and the pot lifted up as well.

I will try carrots next using this same method to see it it helps, that is something else I’ve never had any luck with. From what I’ve read the root parts will not make another carrot but they can produce seeds and then there’s the greens so I figure it’s at least worth giving a try.

If you’ve had luck please feel free to share your sucess here or if you’re like me and haven’t had much luck feel free to share that as well.

Best of luck in all of your ventures and may your efforts be met with great success !

What do sweat potato leaves have to do with anything, your probably thinking. This is the first year I’ve grown sweat potatoes and I’m learning as much as I can about them.

I have them growing in a few places around the yard. As those who have been following along for awhile knows, I’m working on putting together a food forest and the more things I can grow the better off the boys and I will be in the long run.

When I started growing sweat potatoes I didn’t really do much research to be honest, many things I do are spur of the moment and not well thought out or planned unless of course it’s a major purchase or something that will have long term affects around here.

Today I started wondering if the leaves were edible and dug into it a bit and found they are, I’ve read the taste is a bit strong for most and may be better cooked. I took a nibble and found them to be good. Nonetheless the ones I picked today went into a stir fry I had for lunch.

The oldest tried some and said it was good, though he picked out some of the veggies.

Here’s a link in case you decide to give the leaves a go, good in salads or so I’ve read. I will give it a try tomorrow.

Yam Leaves, Stir-Fried Sweet Potato Leaves

As always may your ambitions be met with great success!

It seems everytime I commit to writting more I suffer from writters block. I struggle with what to write about, I tend to prefer writting specifically about things I am doing or have done.

I feel I do a better job writting about what I already know. However I have decided that I can also share information that others know without feeling like a fraud. I started this blog to share information after all.

That being said, I am gearing up to start building a fence on the South side my property. I lost most of what I was growing as an experiment towards my goal of becoming self sufficient this season because a neighboring property was heavily spayed with chemicals.

I can’t put a dollar amount on my loss but it was significant to me. I lost black currants, sage and several other plantings that I had counted on coming back every year. 10 rows of five different kinds of beans that were around 75′ long and one row of beets and two rows of carrots. I decided not to replant because I wasn’t confident there wouldn’t be residual chemical damage or contamination of whatever I replanted.

In any event I’m hoping my fence will at least provide some protection from future events being as drastic.

I have ran miles of barbdwire and built a few wood picket fences, this one will be different from anything else I have done and will benefit us for years to come. The base will be concrete somewhere about 1′ tall and the upper part will be solar panels.

I don’t have pictures or even plans drawn up to be honest but I have fence posts, a post hole digger and enough solar panels to cover about 30′ if I stand them upright, much farther if I lay them on their sides.

Now onto the main reason for this posting. The information I’m wanting to share is on farm fencing, what I have for you is a link to a 62 page booklet on the USD website. While your there you can also browse for other information on a whole host of other topics. Turns out this is a two for one deal, you’ll also find information on bulk storage on the farm.

https://naldc.nal.usda.gov/?f%5Bauthor_facet%5D%5B%5D=Kelley%2C+M.+A.+R.+%28Manly+Alexander+Raymond%29

Happy homesteading and may all your efforts end in success!

Where I am located I have now had four seperate compost piles. The last two being the best, the first was moved and I planted rhubarb in it’s place. If you look closely you can still some organic materials towards the back.

What remained of the first was mixed in with a bale of hay and about six inches of horse waste that was left in a stock trailer I’d bought to make the second pile. The second was partially relocated with a good chunk left it place as it covers where bindweeed was growing. Since it’s stopped it for now I’ll leave it be, I’ve planted a raspberry on the outter edge of it and it’s growing like crazy.

The 3rd is located in a failed flower bed I’d built for the wife while she was alive. I’m still not sure why it failed but after her passing I just left it be. However it’s now an ever growing compost pile with a blackberry growing in a corner. This pile was huge for awhile but it’s settling down as the material decomposes.

The 4th pile is located just in front of where the greenhouse is to be. I’ve had the greenhouse for awhile now, I just haven’t gotten it set up as I want it to be on a solid base.

There are wood vine and tree branches at the bottom. It was originally up at the top when I started dumping in the mowed grass and weeds on top. It is settling down fairly quickly. The white spot you can see in the middle is our kitchen waste.

My grandma Marie had a paper half gallon milk container that she kept on her counter in a back corner, all of her kitchen waste would go in and the top was folded back down. When it was full or developed an oder she’d have grandpa run it out to thier compost pile which was a good sized pit lined with cinder blocks that sat in the back right corner of thier yard behind the garage.

I adapted my own version of her milk jug, I use an old Hamilton Beach blender that sits on my counter next to my dehydrator.

The lid holds in oders fairly well and it makes short work of all I put into it, including cereal boxes and anything else organic that I decide to stuff inside. Since it’s broken down before going out it decomposes faster and is less likely to attract critters looking for a quick meal.

I will of course keep adding to both piles and will turn both before it turns cold. I add things that many probably never consider, like, cardboard boxes and waste paper from the house etc. I figure if it decomposes it’s fair game.

Happy composting! There are many are many articles to found online about the subject and if you garden or otherwise grow plants you should definitely learn about and try composting yourself.

Well, okay, not really. I almost bet you heard Woody from Toy Story saying it though, I know I did! Lol

So anyways, last week the oldest boy came to the shop where I work, he was breathless. He had peddled his bike as fast as he could for the short distance it takes to get there from the house, I could tell by the look on his face something not great had happened.

I asked him what was the matter, at first I thought perhaps the middle boy had gotten hurt or something, still breathless he finally manages to say there’s a rattle snake in the house. A rattle snake, I repeat. He says yes, I think so! What makes you think it’s a rattle snake I ask, well it was really fast he exclaims. Did you see rattles, I ask. Well no but I think it’s a baby, he says.

I asked where in the house is this snake, he says it went into the laundry room, he then tells me he shut the door so it couldn’t get out. I ended up telling him as long as he was sure it couldn’t get out to not worry about it, I’ll deal with it when I got home. I’d had rattlers get into the house when I lived out on the farm and decided it wasn’t a major concern so long as the boys stayed away from it.

Upon arriving home I was greated at the door by the oldest and informed that the snake was still hiding in the bathroom. While rattle snake are not unheard of here I realized it was a possibility, though having never seen one around the house I wasn’t convinced.

As I cautiously opened the door and peeked inside, I saw nothing. And then I see it, back behind a can of paint and the bottle of bleach I’d sat down after pouring some on the shower floor. At first I noticed redish stripes running down it’s sides and though I wasn’t scared I did feel a sense of relief knowing the boys were never in any real danger. I dug out my good leather work gloves and put it outside with the cantaloupe that had been being plagued with grasshoppers.

All’s well that ends well!

Thank you for stopping by, I hope you have a great day and much success in your ventures!

I’m working on posting more frequently and in some sort of scheduled fashion. I’m also considering offering items for sale.

I have of course been told by countless people that I can’t do that! You have to sell on Amazon or Ebay I am told, I think most people who can not figure out how to do something on thier own often discourage others from trying.

Perhaps they think they are trying to be helpful or maybe they are jealous that someone else would dare try what they themselves will or perhaps can not. I’m not sure.

That being said, I was working on what I felt was a great blog post, I had worked on it for the better part of a week, editing, adding to and spell checking. I however wanted to add one more thing and somehow the entire post was lost, it wasn’t saved like I had thought and of course there was no back up!

Such is life and I learned a lesson I should have already known. Striving for perfection is all good and well but sometimes getting something done can be more important. I’m sure my grammatical prowess would drive an English teacher to drink but I am working on it and hope my followers, both current and future will bear with me as I take this venture more seriously and learn as I go.

I thank you for taking the time to read my blog and hope you find success and happiness in all your ventures!