old fashioned
Almost Self-Reliant
Okay, so it sounds similar to the USA. Best of luck to all in Poland.rty007 said:
rty007 winemaking Q
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rty007
Lovin' The Homestead
One of the things on my researching list was the whole variety of ways to use different kinds of trees, in the period before cutting it down for firewood/construction.
beech.
-pressing the fruits/peanuts makes a rich oil, the byproduct is said to be a great feed for pigs. You do need to fry them to eat them yourselves.
birch
-leaves- there are some fancy words that I do not know the translation of, but will probably do some research of your own if you will get interested. Basically it helps with the digestion process, bloodstream cleaning process, it has anti-rheumatic tendencies, makes you sweat and pee. you get the point, even tho I did ot use some high-end vocab
leafs are used from silver birch and Downy Birch; also known as White Birch, European White Birch or Hairy Birch.
-bark- the white bark from the two above birch's is used for a variety of skin problems
-sap- obviously, syrup. What advantage it has over maple is, that once drilled, one hole will last you through the hole season. one tree will yield about 1/2gallon of syrup.
-tar- you can make something very similar to pine tar out of birch, uses are the same, waterproofing, and the by product is wood coal for your bbq
offf for the tea, will edit it later.
beech.
-pressing the fruits/peanuts makes a rich oil, the byproduct is said to be a great feed for pigs. You do need to fry them to eat them yourselves.
birch
-leaves- there are some fancy words that I do not know the translation of, but will probably do some research of your own if you will get interested. Basically it helps with the digestion process, bloodstream cleaning process, it has anti-rheumatic tendencies, makes you sweat and pee. you get the point, even tho I did ot use some high-end vocab
leafs are used from silver birch and Downy Birch; also known as White Birch, European White Birch or Hairy Birch.-bark- the white bark from the two above birch's is used for a variety of skin problems
-sap- obviously, syrup. What advantage it has over maple is, that once drilled, one hole will last you through the hole season. one tree will yield about 1/2gallon of syrup.
-tar- you can make something very similar to pine tar out of birch, uses are the same, waterproofing, and the by product is wood coal for your bbq
offf for the tea, will edit it later.
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- #133
rty007
Lovin' The Homestead
I know you all probably though i was gone for good and won't bother you any more... yet here I am
I think I got somewhere on the front with my DM, I am running a container herb garden for her, also I am starting a bucket project of tomatoes and peppers. And she now seems open to accept a homestead meaning a small piece of land, say an acre or two but it is quite clear that she is cracking.
I know that some of you, are living on that kind of land and it is quite enough, but in Poland we have a very strong agricultural background, and even though we now aspire to be more like the rest of the world with all the specialized factory farms, but there are some people missing the wits and some missing the money to do that. Which means that in most cases, a farm is traditionally a organism, it may not sustain all the farmers family needs but when the feed is concerned animals eat what is produced on the farm. There are of course some factory farms which control a good part of the market, but those are big a*s corporations not really a farm, they control the whole process, and have thousands of acres of land.
I am on a constant look out for land opportunities, that is what I found
http://otodom.pl/dzialka-janowo-157240m2-220000-pln-id5722022.html
the land is classified as being of poor quality, couse we have a nation wide land quality standards. If it is stony, or something like that it will be labelled as poor if it is clay it will be labelled as poor quality.
there are 3ha= 7,5ac of clear land for farming and pasture.
as well as 12ha= 30ac of wooded land
the buildings:
110meters = 1100 sq.ft of a wooden house
100meters = 1000 sq.ft of a brick barn
120meters = 1200 sq.ft of a brick barn
220meters = 2200 sq.ft of a wooden shed
the asking price is: 220,000zł= 80,000$
Accepted that it seems like a lot of work to be done.
I really hope some people as you folks around this forum, which are quite enlighten when it comes to organic farming would come to Poland and show the people around how to do it, without the rush after the west, and its factory farming. It might one day be me, but it is still a very long way down the road, couse around here farmers won't take a word for anything, they have to see something working first, then they might do the same.
I think I got somewhere on the front with my DM, I am running a container herb garden for her, also I am starting a bucket project of tomatoes and peppers. And she now seems open to accept a homestead meaning a small piece of land, say an acre or two but it is quite clear that she is cracking.
I know that some of you, are living on that kind of land and it is quite enough, but in Poland we have a very strong agricultural background, and even though we now aspire to be more like the rest of the world with all the specialized factory farms, but there are some people missing the wits and some missing the money to do that. Which means that in most cases, a farm is traditionally a organism, it may not sustain all the farmers family needs but when the feed is concerned animals eat what is produced on the farm. There are of course some factory farms which control a good part of the market, but those are big a*s corporations not really a farm, they control the whole process, and have thousands of acres of land.
I am on a constant look out for land opportunities, that is what I found
http://otodom.pl/dzialka-janowo-157240m2-220000-pln-id5722022.html
the land is classified as being of poor quality, couse we have a nation wide land quality standards. If it is stony, or something like that it will be labelled as poor if it is clay it will be labelled as poor quality.
there are 3ha= 7,5ac of clear land for farming and pasture.
as well as 12ha= 30ac of wooded land
the buildings:
110meters = 1100 sq.ft of a wooden house
100meters = 1000 sq.ft of a brick barn
120meters = 1200 sq.ft of a brick barn
220meters = 2200 sq.ft of a wooden shed
the asking price is: 220,000zł= 80,000$
Accepted that it seems like a lot of work to be done.
I really hope some people as you folks around this forum, which are quite enlighten when it comes to organic farming would come to Poland and show the people around how to do it, without the rush after the west, and its factory farming. It might one day be me, but it is still a very long way down the road, couse around here farmers won't take a word for anything, they have to see something working first, then they might do the same.
Farmfresh
City Biddy
Glad to hear from you. You will find as the summer gets busier and busier that people will check in less often. (Unless of course you are an old arthritic like myself that can barely move in the mornings and has little else to do until I loosen up a bit! 
)
Maintain that perseverance and show them what you can do! We have all weakened many opponents that way! 
) Maintain that perseverance and show them what you can do! We have all weakened many opponents that way!
big brown horse
Hoof In Mouth
Morning rty007!
You can use your farm animals to *help* build the quality of a piece of land by using intensive grazing and rotational techniques. (I'm reading how Joel Salatin did it right now in The Omnivore's Dilemma.) Rather than cows you can use sheep if you have a small piece of land like me.
I have 5 acres, 4 are dedicated to horses and forest. The other acre is my yard and on it I have 3 sheep, 2 large ducks, 10 chickens and a hog. I don't feed the sheep, the chickens and ducks "free range" (I sell eggs to help pay for what little feed I have to buy), and pig eats all the scraps. I have more grass than I know what to do with on this one acre. I might have to mow it, dry it and save it for the winter months...I will still have grass then, but not as much.
On top of all of the animals, my one acre yard also has a big garden, and an apple, pear, plum and cherry orchard. (Sheep mow under the tree limbs and "rake" up all the fallen leaves too.) Piggy is helping me till another big garden at the moment.
You can use your farm animals to *help* build the quality of a piece of land by using intensive grazing and rotational techniques. (I'm reading how Joel Salatin did it right now in The Omnivore's Dilemma.) Rather than cows you can use sheep if you have a small piece of land like me.
I have 5 acres, 4 are dedicated to horses and forest. The other acre is my yard and on it I have 3 sheep, 2 large ducks, 10 chickens and a hog. I don't feed the sheep, the chickens and ducks "free range" (I sell eggs to help pay for what little feed I have to buy), and pig eats all the scraps. I have more grass than I know what to do with on this one acre. I might have to mow it, dry it and save it for the winter months...I will still have grass then, but not as much.
On top of all of the animals, my one acre yard also has a big garden, and an apple, pear, plum and cherry orchard. (Sheep mow under the tree limbs and "rake" up all the fallen leaves too.) Piggy is helping me till another big garden at the moment.
freemotion
Food Guru
Depending on the condition of the land and buildings....that would be a STEAL here! My little piece was $142,000 and less than 4 acres, no outbuildings, small run-down house, swampy areas, thorns-thorns-thorns and clusters of trash trees sprouting everywhere, no lawn, no topsoil, etc.
It is really coming along. Nothing like a chainsaw, a shovel, and animals that poop pure gold!
It is really coming along. Nothing like a chainsaw, a shovel, and animals that poop pure gold!
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- #137
rty007
Lovin' The Homestead
A small victory 
I tell you
Well, I really dunno what happened, but yesterday my grandfather come to my mother for some advice and started complaining about his age, and his allotment garden ( is that what you call those?) it is a small plot (200m2 I think which makes it... about 2000sq.f) and how he is to old to do all the chores around it, and my mother calls me, and says, all about it and asks if I want to take care of the allotment. At first, I was super stoked and said "hell yeah" but then I started thinking about my DGF who is a bit of a nag and I know I have little experience with gardening, but I would really rather learn it all the hard way myself then have him standing over me and saying what to do., which will happen. I am just not sure, how he will react to my kind of ignoring him...
Like I said, It is a kind of small piece of land, about 200m2 the funny thing about those allotment though is that they sell at about the price of 1-2 acre plots just a couple miles from town
There is a small building and a greenhouse that was in a sorry state 2 years ago when I last saw it and DGF did not do anything with it from that time. So it will Need rebuilding.
I will go there tomorrow and look it up what is the state of that place, and take lots of pictures and measurements, the soil is well fertilized, and I know that it is rich, so that will not be a problem.
I will then come here and ask you to help me come up with a plan on how to make it work for that season and how to make it a twice maybe three times a year maintenance garden for the upcoming years. Mint, raspberries and such is a go for me, especially oregano which I believe tolerates shade and is the most favourite herb of my DF so he would be willing to go there the next years (couse I will be home for the weekend at best if not for a weekend every 2 weeks) to water something from time to time if he had a nice patch of fresh oregano to harvest
A automatic irrigation could be an option but it have to be a gravitation tank couse there is no electricity.
I have just now realised that I cannot quite wait to see it
I tell you Well, I really dunno what happened, but yesterday my grandfather come to my mother for some advice and started complaining about his age, and his allotment garden ( is that what you call those?) it is a small plot (200m2 I think which makes it... about 2000sq.f) and how he is to old to do all the chores around it, and my mother calls me, and says, all about it and asks if I want to take care of the allotment. At first, I was super stoked and said "hell yeah" but then I started thinking about my DGF who is a bit of a nag and I know I have little experience with gardening, but I would really rather learn it all the hard way myself then have him standing over me and saying what to do., which will happen. I am just not sure, how he will react to my kind of ignoring him...
Like I said, It is a kind of small piece of land, about 200m2 the funny thing about those allotment though is that they sell at about the price of 1-2 acre plots just a couple miles from town
There is a small building and a greenhouse that was in a sorry state 2 years ago when I last saw it and DGF did not do anything with it from that time. So it will Need rebuilding.
I will go there tomorrow and look it up what is the state of that place, and take lots of pictures and measurements, the soil is well fertilized, and I know that it is rich, so that will not be a problem.
I will then come here and ask you to help me come up with a plan on how to make it work for that season and how to make it a twice maybe three times a year maintenance garden for the upcoming years. Mint, raspberries and such is a go for me, especially oregano which I believe tolerates shade and is the most favourite herb of my DF so he would be willing to go there the next years (couse I will be home for the weekend at best if not for a weekend every 2 weeks) to water something from time to time if he had a nice patch of fresh oregano to harvest
A automatic irrigation could be an option but it have to be a gravitation tank couse there is no electricity.
I have just now realised that I cannot quite wait to see it
big brown horse
Hoof In Mouth
I'm excited for you and I hope you post pictures here for us to see!rty007 said:I have just now realised that I cannot quite wait to see it
Congrats!
freemotion
Food Guru
Even if DGF is a pain in the butt, you can learn a lot from him that you won't learn in books. Do your own experiments, too, but learn from him! When I lived in an apartment in a two-family house, my elderly Italian immigrant neighbor would watch me in my vegetable garden and offer advice. She was very tactful, though, and as I look back, it makes me laugh. She would say something like, "I read an article in the paper on planting tomatoes....." and proceed to correct me this way. She was in her 80's and had a huge garden for many decades, so I know she didn't read about it in the paper.....
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rty007
Lovin' The Homestead
Well yeah, I would be OK with that even realising the same fact
but DGF is a kind of know it all, who will tell me what to do, not suggest. When someone tells me what to do and presses on something I just shut-off and nothing is coming through.
