TALchemist - back and moving along

[Wannabefree]

Awww they are adorable! I love their color

 

[TAlchemist]

yeah me too, i knew i wanted a meat rabbit with good large structure but i always hated the way those new zealands looked those red eyes and white fur.....evil!!!!!

then i found out there was a red new zealand and there is a breeder of them not far from my city.....so i went out and i just had to have them. of course the bunnies were my first forray into livestock so i needed to see if i could handle all that entails so before i bought the breeding trio, i went to a chicken auction, they have more than that, i ended up getting 6 mini rexes just weened for less than $20. i figured if i could go through the process on those cute littly guys then i could handle anything. i kept 1 becuase he was cute and now i have a mini that is my test bunny. if i grow something or harvest some weed i feed him first, if he likes it and i cannot confirm even a possibility of it being toxic they all get some

 

[moolie]

Adorable bunnies and congrats on the new property--bet you are so excited as you make plans for your new life

Your self sufficient journey so far sounds a bit like what we do here in the city, and some day we hope to move to a larger property as well--we have ties that are keeping us in the city for the next 5 or so years (jobs and school). We garden and preserve as much as possible on our property (veggies, apples, berries), supplementing with eggs, cheese & butter, grain, meat and veggies/fruit from local producers and the farmer's market. We grind local grain for all of our baking and bread, cook everything from scratch, make our own yogurt, ferment various foods, keep a lot of produce in our basement cold room "root cellar", and do a lot of canning.

My daughters won't let us have rabbits for consumption (they say pets would be ok, hubs had a rabbit as a child and says they are "totally useless" as pets unless we consider them as food and seriously plans to get some when the kids leave home) and I'd also love to have chickens and a pig to start, but they're not allowed in our city. So we'll have to wait on livestock until we move one day.

Really looking forward to reading along

 

[TAlchemist]

my backyard when i first moved in, man did i have a nice sized yard

...to bad it was on the side of a small mountain And since i had a large dog that to this day thinks that plant roots are for eating, i had to do alot of fencing to keep the dog out. so i decided to make terrace style beds and rows.

this is this years 3 40' rows. i dug them and tilled them 3 years ago, but this year i added the wooden terrace part to level it out. i also did an expirament. the lowest row is overseeded with clover as living mulch,the second row is covered with grass clipping and straw mulch, while the top row is using shredded paper.

this is how it looked before the early summer heat melted my garden.

also there is soaker hose at the top of each of the 3 rows to soak down to the board.

before i made the rows on the hill i tried some 3 sided boxes that where 3x6ft. they worked but where small. i tried potatoes in them this year(there are 4 of these beds)

the same bed after mounding and using scrap welded wire fencing for containing the mounding.

and i added these sweet potatoes in tubs this year, i always chop so many sweetpotatoes when i dig them so i figured i would just dump them, on a side note they love the heat

my giant raised bed i made 3 years ago as well, i didnt feel like bending over

i have pictures of my hens and my rabbit hutch but i think they are still on my old phone, i need to hook it up to the computer and get them off. i also have pictures of the land if anyone wants to see them.

 

[baymule]

Your backyard garden looks really good! Your rabbits are beautiful and rabbits taste soooooo good! This has served to make you want a bigger farm, where you can grow livestock, garden, fruit and nut trees.......... can't wait to hear about your journey on your land.

 

[pinkfox]

very nice...
the only problem with "pretty" rabbits, is there harder to butcher...not physically but just becuase OMG there so cute...
least with plain white ones with red eyes...its a little less emotionally trying lol.

 

[TAlchemist]

yeah with my 6 little buns i was begining to wonder if i could do it, but then a week of having them bite and kick me <i started to use my long gauntleted welding gloves to protect my hands> i told them unless you guys shape up i am going to cook all of you, then the grey mini rex that i kept decided he wanted to nuzzle when ever i came to the cage so he survived

 

[pinkfox]

rex for the most part have some of the best temperments lol.

 

[Denim Deb]

OK, I want info on growing your sweet taters that way.

 

[TAlchemist]

that is the easiest thing i am trying this year.

1. i bought some of those big plastic tubs when they went on sale, plus one that cracked from me using it.
2. i took them home and used a tined fork to stab holes for draining water out he bottom and sides.
3. Since sweetpotatoes only grow downward from the vine i loaded it up with potting/garden soil + bunny gold + some grass clippings all the way to the top, well almost i got tired.
4. Then i planted 2-4 in each tub, might be too much but i love the slightly smaller sweet taters
5. once the vines die back/when ever you are suposed to harvest them you just dump the tub onto a tarp and sort through the roots/dirt for the tasty sweet taters.
6. then take the dirt to the compost pile or spread for a new growing bed or save for next year.

once they stop growing/die back i will provide pictures and see if it works....i might have less this year than normal because of the drought conditions in alabama.

also you have to water them more since they are basically container grown.