Hi Yall!

[Mrslita2019]

Hi! My husband and I are setting up a small farm in Texas. I joined the BYC group for my chickens and found the sister sites. We are trying to set ourselves up to be self-sufficient and reduce the need for the crazy corporate job. I grew up on a farm and have a little bit of knowledge about gardening and caring for my animals, but I want to make sure we set ourselves up for success and provide the right care for our animals. I believe you need 3 types of people in your journeys...Someone who has been where you're trying to go, someone who is where you are, and someone who is trying to get where you are. It has served us well in our marriage so why not in our farm journey! Our land was a corn field and proved to be not rich soil. Last year our garden was in containers and did pretty well. This year, we are trying to expand provide more food through the winter. Big Bucks, No Whammies!

 

[tortoise]

Welcome! from WI! We have some Texas members @frustratedearthmother and @baymule are super helpful and knowledgeable!

 

[murphysranch]

Welcome from Southern WA state!!

 

[Mini Horses]

I'm far away in VA -- but also as close as your computer . Welcome. So much food can come from even small gardens, or pots. Preserving it all is a need, since you will then have food in off season.

Most of us do all that and more....animals, eggs, fish, gardens, orchards. Pretty much any questions will be addressed well. I'm sure you'll provide us with info, too.

 

[FarmerJamie]

Welcome from NE Ohio!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Hi from Texas!

 

[Hinotori]

Welcome from western Washington.

Lots of compost for gardens. Compost fixes many things.

 

[farmerjan]

Welcome here on SS as well as BYH.... glad to see you taking advantage of the sister sites... some of us go back and forth on both...
If you like rabbit, they are a great source of manure and soil improvement, as well as eating.... I am a "big baby" and cannot kill them myself... always wanted large Rex rabbits for meat and the pelts... but someone else is going to have to do the killing.... raised beds may be the way to go.... and although you might have to invest in some soil for starting out.,... you can make compost from alot of other stuff to add to them all the time...

 

[flowerbug]

welcome to SS from mid-Michigan.

we're gardening on mostly clay subsoil here and it does take some patience and leaving things alone at times it is possible to gradually improve the garden soil. the more cover crops you can grow and then turn in the debris will be a big help. if you have space for growing alfalfa you can really make things hum right along. i was doing that in one area and by the 2nd year i could chop it back and use some of the alfalfa for green manure in other gardens. by the 5th year the roots of the alfalfa were pumping plenty of nitrogen back into that whole area. chopping it back and letting the worms have some of it also helped.

with mostly clay you learn that when it gets too wet it is better to just leave it alone as much as you can until it dries out.

the first years though are where you can observe and figure out your drainage plans before making major changes or putting in hardscape of any kind. we learned the hard way on that. a lot of things got done here early on and it would have been much better to just bring in some more fill to get the gardens above flash flood stage. after gardens and fences were up it was found that and too late to bring in truckloads of materials other than a wheelbarrow or a bucket at a time.

 

[baymule]

Welcome to SS! An old cornfield, what kind of soil do you have? Clay or sand? Plant clover and rye grass next fall. Let it go to seed, die back, then mow it down. The clover fixes nitrogen in the soil and it and the rye grass will add humus to the soil.