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Lots of great advice here. Someone mentioned having resources (money) to do these things. I’ve been an active homesteader for a few years now and cannot stress how important having your finances in order BEFORE you set out on this journey. I live debt free except for utilities incl internet and phone, and there is always insurance, gas, and new farm equipment. Some people are able to scratch a living out of selling produce, honey, meat, and eggs, but from what I’ve personally witnessed it’s barely enough to pay for the animal feed, and garden maintanence equipment and fertilizers. A tractor will be your best friend and save your back. Once you get going you’ll be overwhelmed with projects. Start with a few and realize it’s not a race, but rather a journey. If you try and do everything at once you’ll get overwhelmed and burn out rather than enjoy what your doing. You might find someone in your area who is doing what you want to do and ask them to mentor you, or just help them out. The hands-on experience and knowlege you’ll gain from this would be invaluable.

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This is exactly what you get when the government is corrupted by corporations that then use the power of the government to stamp out any competition, which in turn, forces the public to only buy that corporations products because the consumers have no other options.

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Since you have livestock I’m sure you’ve already considered a stock pond but throwing it out just in case. Lehmans has a Stainless Steel Deep Well Pump Head, Deep Well Pumps – Lehman’s (lehmans.com), which says can be installed in tandem with an electric pump and should easily hit the depth you’re trying to reach.

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I’ve owned a Harvest Right freeze dryer for around 4 years. I would take this “advice” with a huge grain of salt. The freeze dryer super freezes the food well below 32 and then brings the temp way up to over 100+ degrees and continues to repeat the process over and over until all moisture is removed. Everything I’ve ever read or seen on seed saving is to avoid huge temperature fluctuations. Also, I would think that completely removing the moisture would also kill the seed. If you going to do this I would test it before you have to depend on the seeds.

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@ Michale. Got it. I was referring to the video, not your thread. I meant no disrespect to you and I’m not even saying it doesn’t work. I’ve never tried it. Just explaining the freeze drying process since I have a machine and we’re all learning together. I also wanted to make sure people try germanating the seeds if they decide to freeze dry them to make sure they’re viable before they have to rely on them.

• This reply was modified 4 months, 1 week ago by  Outback.