A new journey into homesteading "pic heavy"

[sumi]

Well yesterday we started pulling out all of the plants from the garden except the okra. I noticed alot of bugs so I let the chickens on there for a while. They cleaned up

You need a pig Or two… or three… They'll clean up the plants and dig over the soil for you.

 

[baymule]

If you are going to make a run for it, you need to know where you are going. I see a house close to you in your picture. Do you live in a subdivision? If so, I can see why you would want to leave. This might be a good time to look into some property to move to, even if it isn't until you retire.

We lived in Livingston when hurricane Rita blasted through Houston, 3 weeks after Katrina drowned New Orleans. People panicked and left Houston in droves. Our little town was over run by desperate people. A normal 1-2 hour drive took 24-28 hours and people ran out of gas. It was a terrible experience for most people and several died in their overheated cars.

So if you are planning to bug out, you'd better have a plan, where are you going and how are you going to get there. Don't wait until everyone else decides to leave, go quickly and beat the crowd. Know alternate routes as all the better known roads and highways will be clogged. Our daughter was working in The Woodlands (basically Houston) and was trying to get home via Interstate 45. She called and asked for an alternate route. I told her to take the first exit for Conroe, which was Hwy 75 that ran parallel to 45. There was hardly any traffic on it and she sailed on home.

Hurricane Rita was an eye opener for me. Fortunately after less than a week, people went back home. But if they had been stuck there, it could have gotten real ugly real fast. Food and water was scarce. We sheltered friends in our home and I was prepared. People threw out trash where ever they went. We opened our schools and churches, they trashed our Jr High, even smearing feces on the walls. It is what prompted me to start making plans to move.

So I guess we moved to our bug out place. We're not going anywhere.

 

[Chic Rustler]

I live outside of town. We don't have many nieghbors and the ones we have are good folks.

I don't think we are going to get a hurricane anytime soon. But we do have tornados and i live on a flood plain. If needed we can get away quickly. The situation dictates where we go. If roads are impassable it won't be far. I have 4 kids, one of which is a toddler. We aren't going to be living in the woods.

But if the need arises we can grab a bag and head for the inlaws farm, which is an hour drive down the highway. There's no alternative route. If roads are congested and it's really bad I know a route that will get us across state lines and to the middle of no where USA. But thats a last resort.

 

[baymule]

The hurricane wasn't the problem, it was the estimated 3 1/2 million people who hit the roads running from it. So if a disaster strikes your area, leave NOW. The people who left earlier had no problem. Those who waited suffered for it.

 

[Chic Rustler]

I think that is the hardest part. Assess the situation, get everyone home to meet and be gone within the hour. In that type of thing you want to be gone before they call for evacuation.

 

[baymule]

Absolutely correct.

 

[Chic Rustler]

Weird we were just talking about this and now Harvey came threw. I have friends down there. None wanted to leave. Now they are stuck.



Anyway back to the homestead.

The fall garden isn't gonna happen. I mean I have some legumes planted but that's gonna be it til spring. I'm gonna try this back to Eden thing.

Everything is gone except the okra. It's still producing like crazy. The yard was over grown from all the rain so I had an abundance of grass clippings. I covered the rest of the garden 4 inches of clippings and then cleaned out all the compost I had on the property. Between the compost bin and the chicken coop deep litter I got about ten wheel barrows of compost spread on the garden. I also raked up a wheel barrow of rabbit manure and spread that as well. Now I'm in the process of carting all the wood chips over to the garden. I'm gonna try to get it all 4 inches thick if I have enough.

Im probably going to cover it all with black plastic over the fall and winter. Grass and weeds have been way too much of a problem and I'm hoping I can choke them all out. I may spray herbicide and make a 3 foot perimeter around the garden while it's covered to keep the grass from coming back. Not sure yet

 

[baymule]

Yeah, funny the conversation we were having. It is awful in Houston. My sister and BIL were rescued from their 2nd story last night.

I think you are on the right track with your garden with the grass clippings, manure and wood chips. I don't use poisons of any kind. I have chemical sensitivities and have to live a very clean life. I don't think you should cover the garden with black plastic. BTE garden benefits from the fungal and bacterial action in the wood chips, manure and grass clippings. Baking them with black plastic will kill that action, as will herbicides. Dead soil isn't what your goals are, but living, healthy soil. That's JMO.

 

[Chic Rustler]

So ya reckon I should just pull the little bit of grass that comes threw?

 

[Mini Horses]

Yes, pull it. You could make a perimeter on the outside by tilling, laying cloth like a flower bed, mulching that. Or put down plastic on that outside. Then you just mow the yard.

I don't use chemicals. My pastures have some weeds & the goats love them. If they eat in that field often, most of the weeds disappear all together. Ya know, no leaf, they die. Honeysuckle is hardest to eradicate but, the bees & goats make good use of it so it's ok. Most is eaten, so vines stay smaller.