CrimsonRose's Cataloged Catastrophes! Electric went out Bator got cold

[CrimsonRose]

Hi guys... I'm not really new here... I started out on BYC several years back then always came here to read the threads when this site opened up... At the time I was just getting started with wanting to be more Self-sufficient and learning to make things "homemade" Right when I got to the point where I had learned some (maybe enough to feel confident in answering and helping out) we went through a tough time with our housing situation... And I had to get rid of all of my animals while we waited for our new home to finish construction... our old home sold but that left us in the mean time living with my family... So that put all my "plans" on hold for about a year...

Now I've been settled into my new home for a year and love it... It's been hard... I have no outbuildings for animals... So having to scrounge up the money and add them in slowly as we get hutches and pins all built... Hubby is a city boy at heart (even though he was raised pure country... LOL) So he tolerates my "crazy" animals and idea but isn't much help or support... But after a few years of wearing him down we do have a nice start to some ugly mutt chickens and some really nice new zealand and Flemish Giant rabbits!

The ground here is pure clay worst soil you can imagine... So gardening is tough as well... I call my little 5 acres RockHaven because everywhere you look is Rocks! LOL But they came in handy for making some nice raised beds... It was A LOT of work and I only got a few finished this year but plan on adding a few more... We got a nice crop of tomatoes for canning and all the salad we could eat all summer... Like I said we don't have any good dirt here so I grew it all in straight rabbit poo... Best crop of tomatoes I've ever had!

We do have a TON of wild blackberry's that's the best part about this land! But it's also a struggle to keep my hubby from cutting down "the weeds" as he calls them... Also found a few hazelnut trees out back! I tried to plant some fruit trees but after a full year they have not grown at all... so next spring I'm going to try and rework the soil around them all and add some more bunny power to the dirt see if that perks them up... LOL

Anyhow a little about me... my name is Kristy... I used to do Glamour Shot photography... But after getting married and having kids it got to be too much... Family first! So now I am a stay a home mom and I do side jobs of photography and webdesign and graphics off and on... I have 3 beautiful kiddos ages 8, 6, and 3. (2 girls and a boy!) I homeschool so they keep me busy! But I wouldn't have it any other way

 

[dragonlaurel]

Welcome!
When you are ready to build up another bed, add all the grass clippings and leaves you can find to that clay, stir it some with a digging fork, and throw in some earthworms. Worked for me. Otherwise I'd be sticking seeds on red clay and novaculite (Arkansas whetstone rocks) and wishing. Alfalfa is good for that also. Deep strong roots that break it up some. Then till it under and have humus in the soil. Good luck. The rabbit poo is great stuff. Wish I had some for my garden.
Most outbuildings don't need to be anything fancy. Some people here have done amazing scrounge work that you could borrow ideas from. Might be able to save lots of $ and move forward on a couple of your dreams.
BTW- I love the name Rock Haven.

 

[Denim Deb]

There's a book out there, don't recall the name of it, and I can't find mine that talks about building up soil that's no good for gardening. Basically, you're building lasagna layers out of various stuff w/the bottom layer being newspaper. If you could get a copy of that book, it might save you some work.

 

[Javamama]

Love your journal name!

 

[noobiechickenlady]

I hear you on the clay, mine's gray and thankfully not solid, but there is a LOT of it!

Like the others have said, just keep adding organic matter. It really doesn't matter a whole lot if you do a lasagna garden, just pile it up in a spread out heap or put on heavy mulch. It is for sure the best thing you can do for your soil.

Lots of people say talk to tree trimmers and they do indeed have lots of great organic matter, but I haven't had any luck getting the sawdust/wood chips/leaves from them. One offered to drop off his load for that day in my front yard and never showed. Several have never returned my calls. Blah!

I have had success by watching for when people rake & bag their leaves, then snatching them up before the garbage truck runs. Just make sure they ARE leaves

Welcome to journaling!

 

[BarredBuff]

Hey Crimson!! I am positive those animals poop, so add that to the soil. It will work wonders. Start composting coffee grinds, egg shells, food scraps and when its decomposed add it to the garden.

 

[CrimsonRose]

Hugs thx for the warm welcome guys! Never thought about begging for leaves... we have NO trees here yet (unless you count the 20-30 little 3 foot things that still have a ways to grow... LOL) We did buy some cheap mulch at the end of the season last year trying to helps some...

As for working the soil... That would be great if we could get rid of the ROCKS! you can't drive fence posts you can't even dig a small hole without having to dig out large boulders! So I went with the raised beds... Towards the bottom of our property is some workable soil... But it's a deer magnet! I thought about growing some corn there next year... but will need to figure out a cheap way to fence it in first... We tried to plant a few tomatoes there this year and they did HORIBLE! even with fertilizer gallor! we had like 20 tomatoes bloom and deer ate 18 of them... so out of that whole lot I got 2 tomatoes and they were small But the small raised beds I made out did themselves so I'm going to try and make a few more next year as well... Anyone ever have luck growing corn in raised beds?

I was thinking since we have so many rocks maybe trying to make a barn from them... but I have no building skills and hubby just doesn't share my passion... LOL I'm afraid of making a big pile of concrete and rocks that will just be a giant eyesore and not safe for habitation...

And then there is trying to find the time and energy to build it as well.. Hubby works some monster long hours so pretty much all the house work and chores are mine... He does try some but I don't want him to have to... And 3 kids with homeschooling leaves me with almost NO time for myself... The kids are still not quite big enough to help with the big projects and they won't EVER just go play... HAHAHA

 

[BarredBuff]

Wow that is a lot of rocks!!!

 

[CrimsonRose]

Ok I had a Wonderful Idea today... one of those things that will save you a ton of time and make life so simple... I was one of those types of ideas that come to you at the last min so you don't take time to truly think it all out...

Here is my story... I cooked pumpkin and canned it all day long yesterday... at the end of the night I had over half a cooked pumpkin left and was way too tired to stay up for another round of the canner expecially since it was only going to be a few jars... So I figured I would try dehydrating it like this gal did on this video...

http://www.dehydrate2store.com/videos/?id=66

it turned out nice and crisp 14 hours later... I spent a few mins getting it all ground up and put it all in a pint sized jar!

Then I had an idea... I figured the dehydrated pumpkin would be used last after all the canned pumpkin since it lasts longer... and I would love to have an air tight seal on it... I don't have any oxygen absorbers but read an article the other day where the guy puts his jars of dehydrated corn in the oven on low for a few mins then puts the lids on and lets them cool... it will air seal them...

But... I only have this one little jar... who wants to heat up the oven to seal one jar... then my idea came to me... THE microwave! since all you have to do is heat it up to seal the lid this should would perfect... So with out any additional thought I put the open jar in the microwave and put it on one min....

but here is where it all went wrong... the microwave was on high not the low heat needed by the oven sealing... and it BURNT the whole jar of pumpkin... and now my house Stinks so bad! and I ruined all that hard work of dehydrating and grinding that pumpkin up! I'm so mad! ROFL

So lesson of the day don't microwave dehydrated pumpkin...

 

[kcsunshine]

Bless your heart. Oh well, lesson learned. Enjoy the canned pumpkin and try the dehydrated again. Could you not freeze it after grinding it into powder?