They are a protected species but they are in every plum and apple tree eating and dropping all the fruit there wont be any left come harvest time

Hello everybody,

Question to all you homesteaders out there: in your experience, which element of homesteading ends up demanding the most time and money? Also interested if there's anything that to the uninitiated might seem easy, but that has turned out surprisingly resource/time consuming.

I hope to start homesteading myself next year, and am trying to get an accurate picture of the things that will take up most time and money.

I’ve been trying to raise chickens with a Salatin style chicken tractor. Last year went ok with a few hiccups, but this year we got hit by predators, I think weasels. My first batch, 15 out of 28 got taken over night. I kept those chickens in a stationary coop for the rest of their time. I modified the tractor with wire covered frames that would lay on the ground and cover 20 inches on all sides. But the weasels still exploited a small gap and took all 18 I had this time. I can keep working on it, but am worried I’m going to end up with a complicated process instead of what is supposed to a simple process. Has anyone else struggled with predators using this method? Any successes or ideas to overcome this?

Looking for recommendations. Amazon is full of EJWOX & Squeeze Master. Both seem ok for the price but it also seems like a classic case of you get what you pay for...

Heya folx! Anyone else dealing with packrats this year? 😣.. Clearing brush and clutter from around my cabin helps tremendously but recently, I have had several attempting to build a nest under my cabin..

Standard rat traps don't work some of the time. When I tell most people about packrats they image something the size of a norway rat, not something a foot+ in length. At night, I have mistook a passing packrat for my cat 😂.. I have experimented with stronger springs in standard 'Victor' rat traps but the staples then pull out of the wood bases. I have watched a packrat run away with the trap clamped around the neck.

Lately, I have been using the single spring duke foothold traps. I create pathways for the rats to use and I never trap them initially. Sometimes I will leave the trap in place but with a stone under the pan so it won't fire. The idea is to allow the packrats to become accustomed to the trap and habituate them to it's presence. Finally, I go ahead and set the trap and arrange stones and twigs to close it off from my cat or dog from getting caught in it 😅..

A few considerations: Footholds trap require you to humanely dispatch the critter. A sharp rap on the back of the head with an axe handle is more than adequate. The blood on this trap is from dispatching a packrat, not from the trap itself. Foothold traps do offer the benefit of being able to release non-target species, unlike a rat trap or conibear trap. I always always set my traps in the shade.

I have been told it is pointless to relocate packrats as they will return. Does anyone know if there is any truth to this?

They get this sap coming out of them then shrivel and die. None have reached their full potential

Hi, so I'm looking at a property that is approx 20 acres, of that about 5 are at the bottom of the hill and relatively low slopes, not a big deal. But the "back 15" extends about 1500 feet back up to the top of a hill, and over that distance rises 300-400 feet in elevation. Slopes varying from probably 20% to 40%. This is also all wooded land.

This isn't going to be a major operation, I have a day job I'm not getting rid of. Maybe some chickens and goats and growing a couple gardens.

I am just curious to hear other peoples experiences or interesting things they've done with a hill.

Struggling to find much info online in regard to how many paddocks/pastures to divide my property into for approximately five goats.

2 acres of land.

Will be using an electric fence.

The idea is to use rotational browsing. What I see online says to rotate the herd every week, but I can't find info on how long it takes for parasites to disappear from the previous paddock so it will be safe for the goats again. As a result, I don't know how many separate paddocks I will need to create.

I'm so happy that we only buy bleach and vinegar in bulk, so I can make homemade cleaning products and we can save money. The citrus vinegar blend is amazing for most topical cleaning needs, and the diluted bleach is for the bathroom and other nasty things 😅 I also had a small crop this year of chamomile, rosemary, lemon balm and self heal. I'm new and very uneducated, but these little steps make me happy! One step at a time, eh? 🥰 Thanks for reading!

I recently learned that the EPA does not recommend the use of eucalyptus oil on children under 3. They say DEET can be used on any age. Although the AMA says DEET use on babies should be limited.

Does this mean DEET is safer? Turns my thinking upside down.

Which counties are homestead friendly in the DC area? Nothing too serious, just gardening and a small chicken coup or quails, but still need to commute to DC.

Are there any rules against homesteading in the surrounding counties? Which would be best for this?

Thanks so much!

We planted a couple of gooseberry bushes 4-years ago and haven’t touched the fruit until this year. They’re certainly an interesting taste! I know we can use them in jam making, but what else are they good for?

Pretty obvious which are which...

One of the local personal healthy farm eggs even had the yolk come out like a heart!

Hello,
My wife and I are currently attending school in Sandy, Utah. We have 2-3 years left of school and won’t be able to purchase our own property for at least that long and honestly longer. We both grew up with some experience living on property and working with animals, but nothing close to homesteading levels. We are interested in finding someway to get experience with homesteading/farm living.

We are looking for someone within 30-45 minutes of our school that is willing to mentor us is farming/homesteading. Ideally, we are hoping to do a work exchange where we help out on the property. We want to offer to build and pay for an experiential AirBNB on your property as well as free labor in exchange for living on the property for free and getting mentored. Something like this is what we are thinking for living accommodations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6oHOaJlYzE&t=13s

We have one 15lbs dog and are a super hard working Christian couple. If you are in the Salt Lake area or Utah Valley and are interested in mentoring (or know someone who is) please DM me! Thanks for considering this.

Or if anyone has any advice on how to get some mentorship in a different way, also please share any advice you have!

Trying to escape Albuquerque, without gaining much snow. Trying to use weather sites to narrow in on microclimate areas is very tedious. Looks good, thent he current days temp or forecast for the week include 100*. If you are happy with your areas climate please share general area. TIA

This season I planted an ozark pink variety of tomatoes and so far have had decent return . It has made lots of jars of fantastic salsa and have eaten more than my fair share of sliced and salted tomatoes from my plants . What other breeds is everyone using and how’s your yield this year ?

I have a 40 meters long driveway and dig out 12 inch already. I ordered 2-3 inch gravel already and was planning to put it as the base layer, then basecourse on the 2nd layer, should i put 3/4 crushed gravel on the top? or not

I just purchased a home with a hand dug well and its been great and everything has been functioning but....The water line has slowly been going down in the well and does not seem to be refilling at all. The water was nice and high when the house was purchased. I have neve had a well before and we have gotten plenty of rain so I am stumped on why the water level keels decreasing.
The well to the bottom is about 10 feet deepish

Link to first post

The Saturday came and went and I got actual eyes on the place mentioned in the above linked post and here's what I found

The good(ish?)

-My concern was the difference between county auditor's website and the listing on acreage. It's 8.8 acres, but the main parcel is 6 which is listed online

-Was unable to see the inside of the house. Seller said if someone is serious about making an offer, he'd show the inside but the money that would be spent on fixing it could be better spent on a new build, so maybe it's salvageable. May ask to see the inside on the next look.

-2 apple, 2 or 3 pear, mulberry trees scattered about he main clearing and elderberry bushes everywhere. They would need some pruning and TLC.

• New well was drilled in 2017 but never hooked up to the existing structure

-I am told (haven't had a good rain for me to check myself) that all the water flows down to the train tracks so no water pools in the clearing

The bad/concerning bits and headaches

-Will need electric service ran, used to be overhead service though the woods but trees kept downing the lines so the utility company disconnected, talked to utility company and got it priced out.

-Health department has no records of a septic system ever being on the property so they advised having someone come and locate/inspect it to pass any violations or notice if repairs/replacement to the property owner.

• Foundation from an old pole barn is still in the ground, could remove, could just use as a parking area. Too close to new pole barn to fix up and use for new home I believe

• Well never got final approval. Apparently there was a mixup on the paperwork and no safe sample had been sent in yet

I do generally like the property and think it could keep me relatively busy and happy with visible progress made, but the property isnt listed for sale as is so I feel like I'd be reasonable making an offer around 10-30k less than asking to account for removal/replacement of the septic system, trenching and installation of a transformer, and potential work to get a useable well before I start working with it. I still plan to do a little more homework and get an opinion from my dad on what he thinks my best course of action would be, but I also would like opinions on if I should back out and forget about this place or what might be smart if I want to continue

I grew up in NC in the foothills of the mountains. The land I bought is also in the foothills, just in kentucky. Does anyone know if it will be similar when it comes to wildlife and foraging since it's close to the same area? We will be south of Monticello. I JUST WANT RAMP BUTTER AGAIN 😭😂

I plan to spend some time out there to see where water gathers etc before we build but it's all wooded. We plan to keep it as natural as possible to allow wildlife and flora to remain, as I grew up in a similar place and in a similar way.

We don't know if we want to build a well or catch rain or both yet, but has anyone dug a well in the area and can give me an idea of how deep it'll need to be? I figure since it's Appalachia, it'll be deep, but I'm not familiar enough with kentucky to know if it's similar terrain to NC.

Is there any general advice yall can give? Like I said, I grew up in nc on a homestead and have the know how, but advice for the area I guess? I got land in kentucky because it seemed like it would be the closest thing to feeling like home without moving back to nc since it sounds like nc has been heavily gentrified since I left home, but how likely is it that I'll have neighbors to trade with and jamming on the porch buddies like we did in nc? I know all this seems trivial and I should be content with just being, but these things are what made my childhood special and im getting to the age where I did all the "basic American dream stuff" and want to get back to my roots lol thanks in advance!

Hi, I’m looking for an incubator for cortunix quail eggs don’t need anything too big or anything too expensive, was also thinking about letting some quails brood the eggs but I’ve heard mixed results on this