Moderator Private_Cluck
ModeratorForum Replies Created
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Which you choose depends on what your objectives are. If you are looking for long term storage (up to 25 years), then the choice is obvious – freeze dried food. You would need to weigh the cost of just buying freeze dried food from a supplier versus the initial cost of the freeze dryer as they are expensive. Dehydrated food can last several years if storage properly. Dehydrators are relatively inexpensive. Beef jerky can be dried by several methods, including in a dehydrator.
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We have five 4×16 raised beds that are utilized throughout the year. A typical cycle in a bed would be potatoes in early spring, followed by field peas in the summer, then end with spinach in the fall. Another cycle in a bed would be carrots in the fall (harvested in early spring), followed by green beans in the spring, then field peas (or okra) in the summer. We usually cycle in corn in one bed as well. We fertilize between each change in crop. This has worked well for us over the years.
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We went through hurricane Harvey that dropped over 50″ of rain in two days and did not lose any plants in the containers (or anything in the garden for that matter). The plants, including tomatoes, were all very mature – don’t know if that was a factor or not. Seems suspicious that you would lose so many plants so fast.
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What you have is tree borers. We’ve had several fruit trees (pear, peach, nectarine, plum) die over that last couple of years and have several more that are currently infected. We’ve done extensive research for a treatment. There doesn’t seem to be anything that positively works once infected. Our infected trees usually died within a couple of years (or less). We’ve tried to organically treat infected trees with BT and neem without any success. Some research suggests that an otherwise very healthy tree is less likely to get infected. So, we’ve intensified our watering, feeding, and spraying. Maybe someone in the Freesteading community has found something that works.
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In-rush current on your deep well pump 240v motor is the challenge to overcome to successfully run on solar. Less expensive 240v inverters are not capable of handling the in-rush current. Once running, most pumps draw at less than 10 amps. You can use a soft-start controller on your pump to eliminate that start issue. I purchased one (Growatt 2.2kw LS – Solar Inverter) for my well a 2-3 years ago. Currently, Signature Solar has them for around $350. That controller has solar panel input for power (but cannot connect to batteries) and run during the day when there is sun.
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For the last several years, we have used one of those small two shelf systems (capacity of 96 plants total) with 2×2 plug trays / grow lights that we purchased from Gardener’s Supply. We kept it in our house until seedlings were large enough to transplant into small plastic pots. However, it was expensive, but has worked quite well. This year we will be upgrading to a DIY version made from a regular 6 tier rolling metal shelf unit. Bought enough of the Gardener’s Supply 2×2 planting plug / bottom tray sets to fill up the new shelves. Also bought grow lights from Amazon. Will be putting this system into our new climate-controlled storage room to germinate the seeds. This new shelf unit adds 600 plants our seed starting capacity for about the same price we paid for the original 96 plant capacity Gardener’s Supply unit.
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We just ordered French Fingerling seed potatoes from Hoss Tools. First time buying seed potatoes from them, so we’ll see how it goes. Typically, we grow Norland and Yukon Gold. But, we are adding the fingerlings and russet potatoes to the garden this coming year. I would suggest checking the Texas A&M online vegetable variety selector to see which ones would work best for you in the panhandle.
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We are in Texas and have a roughly 30×80 garden with containers and raised beds. It is partially shaded and only gets full sun for about 3-4 hours each day. But tomatoes and peppers (about a third of the garden) still sun-scalded. We have just purchased 10×20 40% shade cloth panels to cover most of the garden area. We plan to drive either 1-1/2 or 2 in x 10 ft steel conduit (I believe 1-1/2 conduit is what was supplied for posts on our high tunnel) 20 ft apart about 2 ft down with our gas powered t-post pounded to support the panels. Although the panels only weigh 3 lbs each, if needed we can come in half way and add more posts. Plan to drill holes and use eye-bolts and thin (maybe like 1/8″) stranded steel cables with turnbuckles to zip tie the panels to.
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I agree. This is a natural way to keep them under control. Part of our pasture was covered with them. After mowing with a finish mower for a couple of years, they are now all gone. Keeping them from going to seed (making berries) will eventually eliminate them.
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600F is way too hot for preheat on tempered aluminum. Depending on the exact aluminum material designation, heat treating temperatures can range as low as 250-350F. You will need to stay between 200-230F for the preheat to avoid changing the strength properties outside of the weld zone.
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Because of the high thermal conductivity of aluminum, heat dissipates quickly when welding it. You should weld “hot and fast”. Turn up the amperage/voltage and travel faster to prevent burn through. See if this helps.
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As for most root crops, carrots require deep fluffy soil and lots of phosphorus. For our 4×16 beds, I apply about 4-5 quarts of bone meal, maybe 1/2-3/4 cup of Epsom salt, and about 5-7 quarts of Microlife 6-2-4 general purpose pelleted fertilizer in the bed before sowing the seeds. We have drip irrigation on a timer to auto-water the bed every day. We are in zone 8b and plant carrots in October/November for harvest in early spring.
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We use the square foot gardening method in our garden raised beds for a lot of our vegetables. We canned 85 pints of carrots from one of our 4 ft x 16 ft raised beds last week. Just finished planting green beans and recently planted corn using this method. Will be using this method for our okra. Last year in a raised bed of okra, we were harvesting about 1 gal per day. Proper feeding and watering can produce quite a good yield in a small area.
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When the high tunnel is complete, we do not plan on any supplemental heating for winter. Night-time temps here rarely get below mid-20s and usually range from high-20s to mid-30s.
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I agree with @Jonathan . Both would be appropriate. For those members that already have storefronts on eBay, Etsy, etc., a marketplace here on Freesteading (perhaps with similar structured fees) would make sense for them. For other members, with no desire to have a “storefront” or they sell a few items here and there (locally), a Craigslist style place to list items makes more sense.