Have you ever considered giving up on being SS?...Spoke too soon???

[valmom]

Sounds like you have more than enough on your plate! Trim anything that you don't like first- like the 2 old hens And it must be awful to have the knowledge of what is coming hanging over you, but not be able to do anything but wait for it to happen.

 

[savingdogs]

Things are tough right now, old fashioned.

 

[old fashioned]

Thanks for the support. Deep down I know we'll get thru all this mess and be okay. I just hate that 'waiting for the inevitable', sometimes I just wish it would be done & over with cause then atleast we could move foreward with whatever possibilities.

I guess one other good thing is that I finally get medical from work & have been to the doctor & got a script for anti-depressants. When those start kicking in hopefully I'll be better able to handle it.

SD-when the going gets tough, the tough get going-right? I'm just not so tough because I keep 'going' in circles

 

[Marianne]

It's okay to cry sometimes....

 

[Dawn419]

Hang in there, never give up!

doc_gonzo and I left the "comforts" almost 2 years ago and though we're having the time of our lives, there have been plenty of doubtful and scary times, too.

Would I/we give it up? NEVER!!!

It's been the most wonderful learning experience that we've been able to share together, and the "together" makes it all worth it!

We moved out to our place with left-over settlement money and a dream. The money ran out quicker than we expected but the dream is still going strong and we can't put a price tag on that.

Our spring planted garden started out well (raised beds) when everyone elses got washed away. Now that it's been unbearably hot and dry, ours isn't doing so well as the raised beds tend to dry out quicker (lack of organic matter but working on it). So I'm setting my sights on a better fall garden. On the garden up-side, our 4 strawberry plants did well and I have potted up 13 runners so far for next year and am tickled about that!

There were so many times, our first year that we were financially on the edge of loosing this place, that it wasn't funny but we just kept finding odd jobs and they kept us afloat. Doc's had a good, steady job for almost a year now and the financial worries are less but then all the other worries about projects start to build. Our answer is one day at a time, one project at a time.

I've felt that this summer I'm not getting anything done but then I realize that our newly planted fruit trees are still healthy, our tomatoes and peppers are fruiting and the herbs are doing great, so something is being accomplished...just not to MY expectations.

Are we healthy...Yes
Are we happy...Yes
Would we walk away from this...NO!!!


I think one of our best lessons learned in trying to go SS has been learning from our mistakes and being able to laugh about them later. Life isn't worth living without laughter and we've had a lot to laugh about since living this way!

 

[Farmfresh]

One of the most wonderful things about this forum is that there are other people here who not only understand, but can even sometimes share and help!

I can't help with jobs or the lousy economy. Believe me we are going through some stuff with that right now. I CAN help with the other stuff. I have been doing this homesteading thing a LONG time and some of the problems are way too familiar. Let me help with a bit of experience.

we live in Washington state AKA The Land That Summer Forgot ...

I will wager that two years of cold summer will someday be 10 or 15 years of cold damp summer. Where we are it is humidity and heat. You might need (to someday invest in) a greenhouse and/or cold frame just to get a garden done in your area. They garden like that in England where conditions are similar. Often seeds won't sprout due to cool soil temps.

I can't afford one either and have no place to put one, but it would help me too. We often get so hot so fast that tender plants burn up before being successful. I have started planting starts inside in the FALL, so they have time to grow and get tough before spring. Plus a kitchen and house full of starts helps keep me cheery in the winter.

Raspberries have been loaded and have gotten a few good pickings from. My one mistake here is that I picked a ton of them with the intent to make some jam & a pie but had to work for the next few days & they ended up going bad before I could get to them. Note to self--don't harvest until day off

Been there - done that. The solution is not to wait the harvest however. I tried that and the berries burned up or birds got them. Nope pick when they are ready. Pick carefully so as not to get a bunch of bad berries or trash in your container and IMMEDIATELY (because I forget and am back with the same problem) when you get in spread the berries on a cookie sheet and into the freezer. Don't wash them. When they are hard like marbles pop them into a ziplock bag. Now they are ready for that pie or jam WHEN YOU ARE with no noticeable loss of quality!

The strawberries have done wonderful also, but we had to share the bounty with the chickens, rats, bugs, slugs & possibly the dog that got to them first :/

I HAVE to keep my berries covered with a bird netting. It happened again this year and this time the biddies dug up my plants and all! They were dry and crispy when I found them.

Right now we're leaving the eggs alone to see if one of the hens will maybe go broody. Probably not, but it's worth a try..

Find a "nest egg" of some sort. Wooden eggs are best and not too expensive, but a golf ball will often work. Leave the nest in place and replace the real eggs (which you now get to eat) with a wooden egg everyday. They will go just as broody, if they are so inclined, and you are not wasting eggs. One more clue ... paint your nest eggs or write on them. I sometimes find nest eggs in the fridge when hubby helps by gathering them!

Then of course we've been having a rat-war.

We fought that one for a while as well. Rats attacked a set of baby guineas that I was raising and ATE their legs and feet! The solution was a mass extermination! We got a metal barrel and propped a 2x4 inside from top to bottom then we propped another from top to bottom outside the barrel and put grain inside it for over a week. This makes a wonderful "feeding station" for the rats. Next you remove the inside 2x4 and put about 12 inches of water in the barrel and float some oatmeal or other grain on the surface. You will be amazed at your "harvest".

And of course the neighbor cats have been using my garden as a litterbox and they won't do it in open areas but right next to plants that end up being dug up or broken

Mulch will help this some. Since cats often won't share a litter box "marking" your turf with some of YOUR diluted (1:8) urine will not only help the plants it might solve the problem. Another thing to try is hiding mouse traps in likely areas. The cat will get snapped but not hurt.

I'd rather start with young pullets that are more prone to broodiness and let nature take it's course. Build a better coop system like maybe solid steel & concrete and move to a warmer climate.

I agree you just might need a better system, but raising day olds is really easier than you think. We start ours in a old rusty horse stock tank (Craigslist) in a closet in our back porch mud room. Get the right set up and they only take minutes a day PLUS if I raise more pullets than I need (for example buy an order of 25 sexed pullets) I can SELL the extras for a NICE profit. I sold 6 mixed pullets 10 weeks old last week for $50.00!

Keep hanging in there and definitely pick our brains! We have been there and solved that in an amazing amount of situations as a collective. Some of us (like me) even do this stuff in the middle of the city and on a tiny lot!

 

[savingdogs]

I love that rat-killing idea, I've been afraid to put any kind of poison out, thanks for giving me a poison-free, no-cost method! That is awesome!

 

[MyKidLuvsGreenEgz]

I don't ever want to give up on trying to be self-sufficient but it's a lot of work.

With my autistic kid and his epilepsy, math learning disabilities, and him hating to be outside, he doesn't help out a LOT. He'll get the goat for me to milk her, and last night he had all the chickens put up for me before I could get outside. That's about it. He doesn't even like walking his puppy but will in exchange for nintendo time or something.

My husband won't do diddly squat without me telling him what to do, and really, I don't have time to be the mother of TWO children! Example: I've been asking for 3 weeks for him to find another source of hay but we're down to our last bale, and that doesn't feed 4 adults and 2 babies for long. Same old same old.

So basically, if I can just find a way to grow most of my food in pots (our soil is cr*p) and keep some of the bantam chickens, I might have to find a way to do it in the city where it would be easier.

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

I don't ever want to give up on trying to be self-sufficient but it's a lot of work.

With my autistic kid and his epilepsy, math learning disabilities, and him hating to be outside, he doesn't help out a LOT. He'll get the goat for me to milk her, and last night he had all the chickens put up for me before I could get outside. That's about it. He doesn't even like walking his puppy but will in exchange for nintendo time or something.

My husband won't do diddly squat without me telling him what to do, and really, I don't have time to be the mother of TWO children! Example: I've been asking for 3 weeks for him to find another source of hay but we're down to our last bale, and that doesn't feed 4 adults and 2 babies for long. Same old same old.

So basically, if I can just find a way to grow most of my food in pots (our soil is cr*p) and keep some of the bantam chickens, I might have to find a way to do it in the city where it would be easier.

Time to start some lasagne beds! You can turn around that soil easily with very little work.
Just ask around for peoples bagged grass clippings and in the fall their leaves.

 

[ORChick]

Sorry, little hijack.

Farmfresh

Wooden eggs are best and not too expensive

. Where do you get your wooden eggs? I have plastic Easter eggs that I use, successfully, but would really like to get some wooden ones.