Community Leader Grumpy_G
Community LeaderForum Replies Created
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Cheech, excellent find and excellent plan. This is the first year we’ve tried to propagate peach trees from seeds. Here is what I have found. Peach seed need to go through cold stratification (several months of laying dormant in the cold winter weather, to germinate. There area ton of videos out there. Here is a quick run down of how to do it at home.
1) Clean the pits in a 10% bleach solution with a soft tooth brush. This will get any matter off it that may cause mold or bacteria growth
2) Rinse thoroughly
3) prepare a medium to store them in. Peat moss, coconut fibers and potting soil will work. Wet it down and wring out water until it is just damp enough that you get one drop when you squeeze it.
4) Place the pits in a ziplock bag with the medium, making sure the pits are covered as best as possible. Seal the bag and label with the date. You can also put the date of 5-6 months away so you know when to take them out.
5) Place the ziplock bag in a paper bag or small box, to block out light, and place that in the fridge.
6) Let sit for at least 5 months. It’s my understanding that it doesn’t hurt for them to be stored longer.
7) Once the proper time has gone by take the seeds out and you are ready to plant. I’ve heard that you can either leave them in the shell, or gently crack the shell and remove the seed for planting. I’m going to try both ways.
8) Plant them in side, or in a green house in pots, and move them outside once the weather worms up.
I’m no expert, and as I said, this is the first year we are giving it a try. I’m sure there is a learning curve, and there is someone out there that has actually done it. I hope they chime in as well. Good luck on your endevours.
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This one goes out to all the home school folks. Keep fighting the good fight!
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It’s throwback Thursday. I thought I’d post a meme that was posted a year ago today. This one is kind of pertinent to everyone here at Freesteading. Not that we advocate taking up arms; make no mistake about that FBI/NSA/DHS lurker. Rather in the fact that the rhetoric they will use against us will ring just as hollow.
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Lot’s of good info on this thread Here are my two cents. For any livestock, make sure they have access to unfrozen water and good wind break. Most animals can handle the cold pretty well. In the 10+ years we’ve been doing this, we’ve only lost one animal to the cold., and that was in the middle of a blizzard. I am more worried about the heat, to be honest. Lots of straw on the ground or in nesting boxes for warm bedding; they will snuggle in to it to keep warm. Use the deep litter method and don;t worry about cleaning it up until the spring. If you can, a heat lamp in the coop or loafing shed doesn’t hurt. Be sure to buy a good one and follow safety measures. For chickens, a lamp in the coop will keep them laying through the winter, as well as keeping them warm(ish) . You need to check on them more often, especially if you are not using a trough deicer of a water warmer. Finally, birthing can be harder on the flock in cold weather. We screwed up a couple of years and had lambs and kids in Jan and Feb, so the mortality rate was higher than normal. Again, check them more often and watch for anything out of the normal.
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Just a reminder that the fall planting season is upon us 🙂
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Can anyone tell me how Freesteading.com fits in to this meme?
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To be fair, you probably wouldn’t fit in if you went to public school either. It’s the wiring 👍
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From experience, if you can put the dryer in a room with a de-humidifier, you won’t have any problems. At the old place, we could take our time packaging stuff, because we had really good conditions. At the new place, we have to get everything sealed up as quickly as possible, in order to not have problems with moisture in the air. My recommendation, if you have the money and are serious about putting food up for long term storage, buy one. It will more than pay for itself in short order, and the humidity issue is something you can work around.
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Thank you very much Toni. It means a lot to us that people enjoy our company. We enjoy, and appreciate everyone that is part of our journey.
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Great post Deb. Glad you are on our side.
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Grumpy! What an excellent suggestion!!
I wish I could take credit for it. Tag, from LifeDoneFree, actually turned me on to the concept. I tried teaching my wife how to shoot for years. Invariably, it always ended up with her getting mad, and me frustrated beyond reason. One day, he had me step back and he started showing her how to do it. At one point she had tears rolling down her cheeks and she was calling him an A-Hole because he had pushed her so far outside her comfort zone. She was banging away at the steel like she never had before, though. By the end of the day, she was running her gun like a pro., and I had learned a valuable lesson in spousal relationships.
But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.
1 Timothy 5:8
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It definitely is a learning curve~ isn’t it!!
You’d think that after owning and operating one for going on 6 years now and having freeze dried literally hundreds of pounds of food, wed be beyond this type of stuff. It’s just another example of all the minute details you take for granted, which become important when you make a big move like we did.
But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.
1 Timothy 5:8 -
We turned the AC on and ran it while the 2nd cycle was going on for this batch. It turned out like it was supposed to. Just going to have to keep that in mind from here forward.
But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.
1 Timothy 5:8 -
Keeping food cool is definitely going to be a problem but maybe waterproof bags in the stream will help.
Around here they used to have spring houses; small buddings built over a stream, or running stream. They would put the food in clay pots, or mesh bags and lower it into the water It worked well. Also, look up Zeer pots. In short, it’s 2 pots, one nestled one within another. There is a layer of sand between the two. The sand is wet down, and the evaporation cools the inside pot. Your comment is worth a thread in itself.
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They have no rules, and we (the Freesteading community) are changing the rules we play by. The game is changing.