On a scale from Mother Theresa to Mia Khalifa, how screwed am I?

While putting away some canned apple preserves, I came across some vegetables that had popped their lids (veggies were canned last year, 2023). I'd had them in a bucket to take to a hole I'd been digging in the woods to bury them. Instead, one of the kids fed them to the pigs. 2 700# sows and 7 300# butcher hogs, about 2 gallons worth of rotting vegetables.

Im thinking of growing olives on almost a hectare of land. I heard there are cold resistant ones, i live in west slovakia, we have frosts from november to maybe early march. Coldest it gets is maybe -10 -15 celsious around here. Im guessing temperatures matter. The land i would use was used for growing wine which is not profitable anymore on this scale. There would be market for it in slovakia as few people grow it and import is expensive. Could anyone with experience in this help me out? It would mean a lot to me.

How did you find your homestead / land?

I’m currently living in a 49ft converted school bus (aka a skoolie) with my fiancé and our two pets. We have a place to park at the moment where we are working in exchange for a place to stay but I’ve been thinking about the possibility of buying land next year.

I just don’t know where to begin looking for land. We’re mostly interested in Florida since it’s our home state. North Florida especially draws our attention.

I feel like it’s going to be difficult to find land with 30 amp electrical hookups, water and sewer.

Does anyone have any ideas where I can find land like this or where to start looking?

I'm involved with providing food for a vulnerable population of about 1200 individuals in 3rd world country in South America. This requires about 6 tons of rice monthly. We're unable to buy rice anywhere near the world spot price for rice.

Can anyone suggest robust rice milling equipment? We can purchase rice directly from rice growers.

Thanks in advance,

Cargo

I'm completely new to this. With the recent election results, my family of 5 is thinking about being a lot more self-sufficient with respect to food, among other things.

One of our favorite foods, among others, is mayocoba beans. Is that even feasible for us to grow? Temperatures range from 20F to 117F throughout the year here.

How much would we need to grow to have a surplus, how would we keep pests out, harvest them, etc?

Hi! I went to the fair and really loved all the animals this year. I don’t have enough room for cows nor the zoning. I live on a city plot and could not have free ranging. I’m not sure which I should prioritize researching. Mostly would collect and eat the eggs and also because fun animal friends

As a homestead, we sell chickens, chicks, meat (rabbits and quail) eggs, as well as we sell eggs to a local restaurant. They give us checks and we deposit them, some Zelle us. We use the same account to deposit this income that also pays for farming related expenses.

How does everyone manage the separation of "personal" vs "homestead"?

Should there be a separation?

What is the best way to do this?

Id like to know the cost of the homestead/farm vs the revenue. We try to use to income from it to offset/cover the feed and other expenses etc.

Hey Y’all! I’m thinking of homesteading in a few years because i think it’s cool and interesting. Can you guys suggest some things i need? States/Counties good for homesteading, and items that are gonna be required. At most 4 people will be there including myself. I don’t want to go big. How much money would I need? I want to do small scale agriculture with the only animal being chickens. Sorry if everything’s kind of choppy ideas are coming to me so it’s not cohesive.

Hello! I am looking for some inspiration for a tiny home I'm moving into this December. It has electricity but no running water. There is a creek nearby I can pump water from and was thinking of trying out some sort of heating system for showers and a "hillbilly hottub" of sorts.

Ideas:
- An outdoor-safe electric water heating device in a tub that can pump water up to a shower as well.
- A copper pipe coiled over a fire that pumps hot water back into the tub.

- Of course the simple solar shower works in summer but not really in winter.

Any inspo welcome! Thank you.

https://preview.redd.it/3y21m3kzppyd1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=39092c94171a22d5f30a16e1fd77f9a2f0fe10e5

So hi all! First of all, be gentle with me as I am a complete noob.

I recently embarked on my longtime dream of owning enough land to start homesteading on. I'm in Northern Catskills area of NY. I have a cabin with 6 acres, mostly cleared but surrounded by wild wooded forests (mix of pine and birch mostly that I can see). The back three acre meadow was left to have pretty tall grasses as the former owner only plowed that field once a year. The front three acres is mowed quite regularly, but both meadows are surrounded by trees and tall grasses. I did have someone come out and plow that back lot because I didn't want my dogs running through those tall grasses everyday.

Jumping to the point, THE DEER TICKS HAVE BEEN A NIGHTMARE. I have two dogs, one VERY fluffy Akita and it's been hell doing tick checks. I regularly missed them on checks after being outside, have found some crawling on me in my bed, and several that have attached to my dog and now he's on antibiotics to treat for tick borne illnesses. I DID get both dogs on internal heartworm/flea and tick meds as well as some Sorresto collars. Since then I'm finding much less on them and in the house, though I still see one or two here and there after bringing them in from outside. I already have plans to plant natural tick repelling plants along the tree lines next year and using diatomaceous earth (I'd go for guinea fowl but I don't know how that would be feasible given the fact that I'm basically bordered by two wild state forests and I know several predators are nearby, including black bears, coyotes and bobcats. I also don't think the Akita could be trained not to treat them like chew toys.)

So now the question about the leaves. My lawn is currently COVERED with leaf litter. I'm on composting boards and permaculture boards and hear so many people screaming "leave the leaves!" saying it's better for the land and for insect populations. But wouldn't that mean MORE TICKS AND MOSQUITOES NEXT YEAR?

Others recommend putting them in compost, but I don't have a compost system set up yet. I figured I'd wait until spring since a brand new pile won't do much in winter, and I also don't want to attract any unnecessary predators and scavengers or rats (which would just bring more ticks). Also, with 6 mostly cleared acres, THAT'S A LOT OF LEAVES. Way more than any modest three bin system could really hold. As the weather is starting to drop, I need to decide what to do with the leaves before the weather decides for me. Do I leave them there? Do I rake or blow them up and push them to treelines?

I want to do whats best for the land and natural environment, while saving myself a tick nightmare in spring. But I'm also one person who just spent pretty much EVERY penny I own buying this land and don't have much in the budget for anything like a compost system or lawn equipment until Spring. So I'm trying to balance my budget for blowing equipment or paying someone to help against the sheer labor of trying to rake up 6 acres by myself.

What's the best thing to do here? Is it really bad to just leave them?

Apologies for length! Be gentle if this seems like a super stupid question.

TDLR: What's the best way to handle a ton of leaf litter on six acres of meadow, considering the land, and trying to keep tick population down?

Still working a 9-5 but I got my slice of heaven in the country in Connecticut. Can’t wait to get some sheep/goats/chicken

I will eventually be getting some acreage but my husband and I have zero interest in cattle (which is currently on the farm) Is it odd or out of character to have a large amount of land with no cattle?

I am looking for a solution to lock up our double sliding barn doors at night (our sheep are inside over night to be safe from coyotes and cougars). All I find is locks for single sliding doors inside a home and locks that go on the inside. I obviously need something for the outside. It also needs to lock both doors in place, so they can not both be pushed to one side while locked together in the middle. What do people use?

Alrighty yall. We have 20 hens which were hatched March 29-April 5. It is currently November 2 and we have not seen a single egg.

Anyone know why this might be?

Yes, wanted to say that I'm proud of all of you.You are doing the damn thing!! It's such a beautiful a beautiful thing How we could all come together this way!-Love Earth🌎🌿

Hi everyone!

I wanted to share my journey of turning a section of my backyard into a thriving orchard and some lessons I learned along the way. I started this project in 2022, and it's been a rewarding experience!

I have a variety of fruit trees, including apples, persimmons, pears, quince, and cherries that were already established on the property when I bought it in 2022. Have since added to my micro-orchard 2 cherry plum trees, 2 varieties of raspberry bushes, a strawberry patch, and a Concord grape arch for the entryway to my backyard micro-orchard. I have been canning all types of jams, jellies, chutneys, fruit butters, fruit sauces, pie fillings, and diced fruits and my basement pantry is stocked!

I wanted to add a couple of cherry plums because one gorgeous cherry plum tree drapes over my fence into my orchard from the neighbor's orchard and it hung so beautifully and I got to harvest the cherry plums from the many branches that were draped onto my property. I did not complain about this type of invasion at all! I was able to can 4 pints of cherry plum jam from the few branches. Then I decided to start 2 new trees of my very own in the back corners of my orchard. They are very pretty in the spring with all of the pink and white blooms! My orchard is gorgeous in the spring with all of the fruit trees blossoms! I really think everyone should have a micro-orchard in their backyard! You get the beauty of these gorgeous trees and so much free food!

I found that each type came with its own set of challenges and triumphs. One of the biggest lessons I learned was the importance of choosing the right varieties for my climate. Researching local conditions and consulting with a nearby nursery made a huge difference in the success of my orchard.

Another aspect I didn't anticipate was the amount of care required in the early stages. I had to stay vigilant about pests and diseases, but I also discovered natural remedies that worked wonders! For instance, I started growing garlic around my fruit trees for natural pest control and I have found zero worms in my cherry tree! I can grow organically as long as I have garlic around each of my fruit trees! Since doing this, my basement rafters are now stocked with hanging garlic! It's a win-win situation for the success of my orchard and the extra produce I get to harvest! Regular pruning and proper watering techniques helped my trees flourish.

For the coming spring, I plan to start adding herbs and Egyptian onions into my orchard in large round raised beds scattered throughout. Probably create a mini food forest! I do not know, we will see where my talents can take this project.

I’d love to hear from this community! What fruit trees have you had success with in your orchards? Any tips for maintaining a healthy and productive backyard orchard? I am interested in growing organically as much as possible!

For more details on my journey and specific tips I discovered, feel free to check out my blog posts where I talk further about growing garlic around my fruit trees and building my backyard orchard. I have a ton of posts where all I do is talk about what I am growing in my backyard orchard! I also have recipes of what I can and preserve from my backyard orchard.

https://theoffgridbarefootgirl.com/category/backyard-orchard/#google_vignette

Looking forward to hearing your experiences! I love learning new ways to improve my little orchard!