Permaculture Design for the Homestead -- Finally!

Since I last posted -- over a year, gasp! -- some progress has been made but not as much as I'd like. I am discovering that my goals --maximizing the food and medicinal herb production of the property -- is a very ambitious goal for someone with no previous actual gardening or livestock tending experience. I realize now, after 3 years of struggle, that homesteading is not for the faint of heart! Do I regret starting this adventure? No way! Do I want to throw in the towel and retire my farm girl hat? Are you crazy?!

No, I am in this adventure for the long haul. I just realize that I have a lot to learn and most of those lessons are going to be learned the hard way -- trial and error.In permaculture, there is an adage that says "Observe, observe, observe". It is by observing nature and what is happening day-by-day on the homestead that I will learn and develop as a farm girl. The Sages of permaculture also say that you should do 100 things. Only 2 will work but you don't know which 2 until you do it. That gives "permies" the right to try a lot of things that fail. I'm trying to learn to go with that flow.

But, I also realize that I need a plan. I need to step back and observe my property and develop an plan for where the main features -- those things you don't want to relocate after they are installed -- are best located and then a more generalized plan for using the rest of the property to it's best productivity. To do this, I need a hero -- an individual trained in Permaculture Design who will help me formulate said plan and save me from some major mistakes.

With that in mind, I put out to the Permie world a call for help. And the answer came from "Joe from the Carolinas" a Permaculture Design Course (PDC) graduate and host of "Grow Your Own, The Budding Revolution" internet radio program. Joe is walking me through the process of creating a workable permaculture design plan for my homestead. Putting a plan together will not prevent a continuing process of trial and error but will, hopefully, prevent to many regrets from putting permanent features (or those that are just hard to relocate) in the wrong location.

The first step was to make a map of the property including the locations of all buildings, trees, garden beds, fences, water lines, power lines, and anything else that must be considered in future plans. I was able to use Google Earth  to get a sketch of the property to scale (by tracing over the image on the computer screen) and then scale up from there. Here is what I ended up with:

The upper right corner is North.

I still need to incorporate a Sun/Shade study, notations of slope (yeah, even a "flat" property has some elevation changes), a Sector Study, and to get soil testing done.



The goals remain the same: maximize the food and herb production using permaculture techniques. I won’t get there by 2016 as my original goal aimed for. It is a goal and vision that will take much longer than that but by 2019 (Lord willing) I hope to be producing a good amount of food and medicinal herbs.

I'm Not Quite There Yet ... and the journey is going to take longer than expected ... but we are on our way! (And, learning a lot along the way.)

2013 Goal Review

Can it be that we are halfway through the year and I’ve yet to write a blog entry for 2013?! Well, that means I’ve not done well with at least one of my goals for the year! So, how about those goals, anyway?

Regarding the homestead goals:

•  I have planted muscadines, figs, blueberries, plums, pomegranates, blackberries, raspberries, and elderberries. I have mulberry saplings growing in pots that I started from seeds. I also have dogwood and lilac saplings. I still want to plant hardy kiwi and strawberries but that will have to wait until the Fall. 
•  I’ve not ordered more rugosa roses. The ones I planted last year are growing and already have off-shoots which I can transplant in the Fall. I have planted some knockout roses and climbing roses. Perhaps I can try again with the hazelnuts come Fall. 
•  Planting beds have not gotten far thus far. We’ve had a very rainy year and I also tend to run short of time. I have tire beds by the dogyard and backdoor that I’ve planted tomatoes, peppers, and basil into. I have also planted some herbs and cucumbers in boxes along the chicken yard fence. I have a huge amount of work to do to begin to get some garden beds of flowers and herbs going. 
•  I have not gotten more laying hens. Mother wanted silkies so we added seven silkies to the flock. They are adorable and will lay small eggs but I still would like to add larger hens at some point. Oh, and our Muscovy ducks are producing ducklings for us this year! One is now raising 11 ducklings and the other is setting a nest after losing her first try. 
•  I’ve added five hutches to the rabbitry. I still need more cage space! I have added a French Angora doe and am increasing my Silver Fox does from two to four. 
•  The food pantry is a work in progress. We’ll see how things pan out by the end of the year. 
•  Have not had time to work on the Natural Feeding eBook.

As for my personal goals:

•  I am working on getting healthy. I’ve started on what I call the Pro-Thyroid Diet which is a mix of plans/ideas that is working thus far. 
•  I struggle to protect my prayer/Bible reading time but I fight for it. I am having an amazing year with the Lord and going deeper in my relationship with Him and hungry to go deeper still. 
•  Obviously, I’ve failed on my goal to work on my blogging! Sorry! 
•  Have not worked on the eBook “Why” 
•  As for fitting in more time for crafts, reading, and relaxation time…well, not so much! I get some reading in when I read to Mother. I’ve pulled out the crochet needles and knitting needles again so I can make myself some hats and finish the prayer shawl I started for a young lady last year. My pastor recently found out that I used to paint. He has encouraged me to paint a picture for the church foyer. I’m wondering if this is God’s way to open—or reopen—a door that I’ve failed to walk through before. Time will tell.

So, on the whole, I guess I’m doing pretty good so far with my goals. Better than I thought to be honest. Sometimes I get so bogged down in the doing of things that I fail to see how much I am getting done and how far I have come rather than how far I’ve not. 

My heart cries to be free of desk work and to be at home making my life here. I think, when I dare to, that “if only” I could have time to write and to paint perhaps I could support Mother and myself and this homestead right here. What I don’t see is the path it would take to get from here to there. Perhaps God will illuminate that path for me.

Time to Set Goals for 2013

As I countdown to the end of 2012 -- not a stellar year here at the homestead -- I am contemplating the focus for 2013. Now, I know that 'New Year's Resolutions' don't last much past February (if that long) for most people. And, I'm generally part of "most people" in this case. But, I have also learned that by setting some goals to focus on, it helps to keep me focused. And, if you knew the constant ruckus that is my brain, you would know that I need to focus!

The first thing I did was go back to see how badly I did with my goals for 2012. Actually, not as bad as I expected! I was about 50/50. That may not sound great to you, but for me -- for considering the curveballs this year has tossed at me -- I consider that a roaring success! From there, we shift to 2013 and what we should focus on to get us closer to our long-term goal of reaching maximum productivity in 5 years. As I discussed back in March of this year, I am giving myself 5 years -- till 2017 -- to reach a point of productivity where I am feeding my family and having food to share with others.

For the Homestead in 2013, I have set the following goals:

• Plant mulberries, muscadines, figs, hardy kiwi, blueberries, and strawberries
• Plant more rugosa roses, lilacs, hazelnuts, and other hedgerow plants that also serve as fodder for the rabbits
• Plant mixed beds of flowers, vegetables, herbs -- both around the fruit trees, along the privacy fence, and elsewhere.
• Increase the number of laying hens to about a dozen
• Increase size of rabbitry
• Build a food pantry-- as much as possible from foods produced here on the homestead
• Finish writing the eBook for Natural Feeding of Meat Rabbits

As for my personal goals:

• Work the Get Healthy in 2013 Plan
• Jealously protect and seek even more time for Bible reading, Bible study, prayer, worship, etc. 
• Continue to work on blog quality and quantity
• Finish writing the eBook entitled "WHY"
• Try to fit in more time for crafts and reading -- some RELAXATION time...what a concept!

So, there you have it. The focus for 2013 here at the Not Quite There Yet Homestead is to try to get a little closer to "there".

Fodder Project Update and New Supports for the Rabbits

Well, the fodder project has been mostly successful. The one issue I ran into was with moisture. No matter how well I thought I had drained the trays, I would find the grain mats too wet the next time I went to rinse them. While you might presume that mold would result, what actually seemed to happen to mine was a definite fermentation odor. The chickens liked that but the rabbits did not. So, I began looking for different trays. What I wanted was something like a vegetable strainer we used to have that was square and flat bottomed. But, I can't find it anywhere!

Today, I thought of the solution! It falls into the category of "if you can't find it, invent it!" I am going to get some plastic needlepoint canvas and fishing line and make trays. I'll be taking pictures and sharing here how it goes.

Hopp, the stud rabbit

Jumpp enjoying her hay.

In other News: The rabbit shed is now sporting some new cage supports. I completed that project a few Saturdays ago. I drilled holes through the front and back 2x4s and ran PVC pipe through it for the cages to set on. You can see Hopp demonstrating his cage support in this picture. The hole in the back 2x4 is not all the way through as it is in the front. I used zip-ties to hold the cage to the front and secure on the pipes. You can see the zip-ties in Jumpp's picture here. Bounce is now reduced to null. Finally, the rabbits and hop and jump around...or do the dirty...without the cage rocking and rolling and upsetting them!

On a sad note: The rabbitry said a sad goodbye to Skipp. His chronic problems suggested a potential systemic problem or genetic issue that should not be passed to off-spring. My friends from K-D's Rabbitry helped me to cull him.

And, to end on a high note: Biscuitt, son of Hopp and Country Mile, has rejoined the rabbitry after being fostered at K-D's Rabbitry. He shows great promise as a future stud rabbit! His litter mate has remained at K-D's and was named Harley.

Fodder Project

Growing fodder is my latest step to giving my rabbits and chickens great nutrition while stretching the feed bill. Especially in the winter when weeds and garden trimmings are not available to feed them, having something green and fresh is a very good thing. Fodder, in it's broadest definition, is any food gathered and brought to the animal rather than what the animal can graze. So, technically, gathered weeds, garden trimmings, hay, silage, and pellets are all "fodder".  But, for the purposes of this discussion, my Fodder Project involves growing wheatgrass for the rabbits and chickens.

Finding the grains for sprouting was the most challenging part. I wanted barley as everyone says that barleygrass is even better than wheatgrass for rabbits. (The Organic Chicken folks tell me barley is not good for chickens, though.) But, sproutable barley is just not available to me. All the local "mills" are just glorified Purina Peddlers and you don't want to know what I think of Purina! I was beginning to think I just wasn't going to be able to affordably grow wheatgrass for the rabbits. Then, a google search landed me at a source for "feed grade" wheat to grow wheatgrass.

Coker's Feed Mill, Inc of Goldsboro, NC

Not only did I locate a source for wheat, I located a fabulous feed mill, to boot! The mill is Coker's Feed Mill, in Goldsboro, NC. They mill feed for livestock, including chickens and rabbits. An email query was promptly answered assuring me that I could purchase feed grade wheat from them through a local distributor.  Another bonus! A local source of feed not from the evil empire!  Clemmons' Hardware in Shallotte is just starting up and the owners are very eager to please. I ordered my wheat through Clemmon's and it came in their next order. Since it was "feed grade" wheat, I expected a good bit of chaff. Was I pleasantly surprised! There is very little chaff at all. My next concern was -- will it sprout well? It sure does! It has a high percentage of germination. This is good wheat, folks!

I was so impressed with the wheat, that I decided to purchase their rabbit pellets as well. (I'd already purchased a bag of their chicken feed.) Now, this was big because I was quite hooked on the MannaPro. But, since I could see that Coker's was using really good quality ingredients in their feeds, I figured this was a win-win -- I can support two local companies while providing my rabbits good feed. The ingredient label on the rabbit pellets was vague, so I emailed Coker's and asked. They are protective of their formulas for good reason but they were able to assure me that corn is not an ingredient in their rabbit pellets. From that fact, and the way they explained why it isn't, I knew I was dealing with a company who cared about the nutritional needs of the animals who would be eating the feed. This really impressed me. You just don't find folks like this very often. And, it isn't often that I give a company such high praises but I think Coker's deserves it! But, then, they are North Carolinian's!

So, anyway, back to the Fodder Project. With good wheat in hand, it was time to start sprouting. I have two buckets, one of which I put drain holes in. Day one, the grains go in the bucket without drain holes. Day two, it is transferred to the other bucket. Day three, it goes into a flat. I purchased four black plastic baskets (upper left-hand corner of picture) and put drain holes in the bottoms. These are working well but I don't think they will produce enough grass. The other flats, the long narrow trays, are actually the "saucers" for planters. I did not put drain holes in those. They will hold almost twice the grains that the black baskets will hold so I'll probably switch to those and save the black baskets for some other project. I will need more of the trays. Essentially, I need seven trays in rotation as it takes between seven and nine days to get the grass to the stage to feed to the animals. The first week, I stuck to just wheat. Then, I started adding in some odds and ends from my old sprouting projects (for me) to see how they will do in the system....and to get rid of them. I'd like to regularly add BOSS (Black Oil Sunflower Seeds) and Flax to the mix but I am going to wait until I use up the other stuff.

If you do a google search on fodder systems, you will see that folks will use different frequencies of rinsing the trays of grains/grass. Some use pumps to recycle water over their trays every two hours. Others only rinse twice a day. I would love an automatic system but that ain't happening anytime soon. I also don't have the time to be rinsing every few hours! I started out rinsing twice a day. I'm finding that most days, twice is not necessary. One must be very careful not to over water as that can lead to mold. So, I watch, rinse when necessary, and make sure I drain well! The biggest key to the system working and getting high germination is initial soak time for the grains. 6 Hours. No more. No less. Well, if you go longer you aren't lost but it will mean the grains have to sit in the bucket longer before you get good germination. You really want to stay as close to the 6 hour mark as possible. The other decision to make is "soil" or "no soil". I've gone with "no soil" but may try the soil option to see if it makes a difference at all.

Once the grass reaches a good size, between seven and nine days from the start of the process, it is time to feed it to the rabbits. The rabbits are taking a little time deciding if they like the wheatgrass but each day I see that they have eaten more of their grass. The Chickens get the rabbits' leftovers and they also get some of the sprouted grains from the bucket after I put most of the bucket load into a tray. So, the chickens get both sprouted grains and grass. They like this deal, very much! I've offered wheatgrass to the ducks and they say "thanks, but no thanks". Silly ducks!

Folks say they get roughly a 1:6 or even 1:7 return from fodder growing. That means for every one pound of grain used, they get 6 to 7 pounds of fodder at the end of the week's growing. A few folks claim even greater returns but I'll be happy with 6-7 pounds of fodder from 1 pound of grain. It is a bit labor intensive unless you set up an automatic system but so far, not too unweldy.

Crop Circles

It was planting day for the Santa Rosa Plums that I purchased a month or so ago. I've been told that Santa Rosa Plum trees are pretty and they produce prolifically -- especially if they have another plum to cross-pollinate with so I will likely purchase another plum to ensure a very good crop. But, for now, my Santa Rosa's needed to get into the ground. I had gotten a trunk load of cardboard boxes from church. I had thought those would go farther than they ultimately did but that's okay, there is more where they came from.

So, the first order of business was to mow down the weeds. Then, I needed to figure out the center of the circle. I used a fancy tool for measuring out the circle...a metal fence post with a string attached! Quite high-tech, don't you think? Then, I dug a big hole for the plum tree so I could incorporate rabbit manure into the soil that went back in and around the tree. I made sure to create a rim ring around the hole so that water will collect and keep the trees well watered. Over the rim, I laid wet newspaper as a weed barrier. Over that went partly composted rabbit wood chips from Rafael's cage. Then, the real fun began! I laid out cardboard boxes to completely covered the 12 foot circumference of the circle. Until the tree is full grown, I can grow annuals and cover crops into the circle but eventually, that will be shaded out and the plantings will be around the dripline of the tree.

Around the dripline, I intend to plant companion plants that will provide services to the tree and can be used for other purposes as well. Comfrey, an herb with medicinal uses for animals and humans, is also good for chemically repelling grass while also drawing up nutrients from deep underground. Comfrey is also a great compost and mulch plant as well. So, with all that going for it, comfrey is definitely on the list! Allium, chives, daffodils, and other bulbs are pretty grass repellers. Basil attracts pest-eating insects and is both culinary and medicinal. Lemon balm, marigolds, mint, and plantain are attractive and edible pest repellers. Alliums, lupines, and clover are nitrogen fixers. A well planted crop circle using some of each of these companion plants around the plums will make for a very productive and attractive planting! And, since there are three -- that is a LOT of productivity!

This is the beginning of my orchard. I hope to add figs, mulberries, blueberries, and perhaps a peach. I'm feeling a bit adventurous lately and ordered tree SEEDS to try to grow. I purchased:


Common Lilac, syringa vulgaris 100 Seeds
Red Mulberry, morus rubra 100 Seeds
Black Mulberry, morus nigra 100 Seeds
Silk Tree, albizia julibrissin 25 Seeds
Cornelian Cherry Dogwood, cornus mas 10 Seeds
Blood Twig Dogwood, cornus sanguinea 25 Seeds 

The mulberries will go in the "orchard" in a crop circle or two. The others, and perhaps some of the mulberries, will go as part of the boundary hedgerow I'm still trying to develop. The hedgerow had originally been envisioned as a single-plant-hedgerow (rosa rugosas) but those are taking longer to establish than advertized so I'm adding other plants. I'm also going to try my hand at propagating cuttings from Mother's gardenia and azalea bushes to add to the hedgerow and other areas in need of coverage. 

Slowly but surely we are making progress.  I am feeling more optimistic about seeing my plans come alive. It seems to have taken a long time and there is so much still to do and time to allow things to grow but if optimism is a fertilizer of hopes and dreams to bring them to life then I think we are going to see great things in 2013! We might not be there yet, but we are definitely making headway!

Farm Girl is Getting Things Done

Chicken coop and one sideyard.

 The chicken coop is finally DONE! Well, 99.9% done. I will be adding some more PVC panels on the side as I remove them from the old chicken tractor but the roof is done and the chickens are safe and comfortable. So, I count it as done!

The chicken coop is 6'7"X5'X5'5" and it has two yards running along two lengths of the dogyard which is 18' square. The coop is framed out with wood and chicken wire. The roof is green PVC panels. The inside walls are covered with feed bags (tyvek) with two of the walls (the two leading to the yards) only half solid so that the chickens and I can get in and out. The yard in the picture is covered over most of it's length with a chicken wire "roof" and the end near the gate with PVC rope zizzagged. The yard on the other side is protected from the top with more PVC rope zigzagged and woven. The covering is to keep hawks and muscovies out and the chickens in. The first few nights the chickens were in their new housing, they did find a way out -- I never figured out how, I just would find them roosting on the dogyard fence and have to put them back. They seem to have stopped that now.

Happy Chickens!

 As this picture shows, the hens are happy! Two bales of wheat straw I'd salvaged to use as mulch started sprouting so I put them in the chicken yard. The hens are happy as can be with that! They also received a big chunk of pumpkin and pumpkin seeds. I purchased the pumpkin from Holden Brothers Produce market for $3! I'll be getting more next week.

I know some of you are thinking that the chicken coop is not very secure against raccoons, possums, and such nor very warm for the chickens. To the first concern I say this -- I can not build Fort Knox. I read of so many folks trying to build an enclosure totally secure from predators. Such efforts have mixed results and cost tons of money. From my limited experience, neighbor dogs and hawks are my two main predators and this coop protects against both. I may find that I have problems with raccoons, possums, or snakes but I hope not. I don't see how I could entirely protect against them anyway. Now, as for the second concern -- no this coop is not an airtight, fully insulated Taj Mahal. Chickens don't need all that. They need to be out of the rain and strong winds. The rest their feathers and metabolism will take care of. Airtight coops which are all the rage with backyard chicken keepers allow ammonia and other fumes to build up which harms the chickens' lungs. So, the intention with this design is to allow my chickens to be healthier and more robust than more pampered chickens. Time will tell if I'm right as this is all a learning process.

View of dogyard & chicken yard

Oh, the blue tarp is there to keep the dogs from terrorizing the chickens. We are also teaching the dogs not to bark at them. They are actually learning to watch and not bark. The chickens watch the dogs, too! Just this morning, I went outside to discover a pow wow going on involving the dogs, the chickens, and the ducks. They had all gathered near each other and appeared to be communicating some plan or other. None are talking so I don't know what they were cooking up but apparently the rabbits were not invited as the powwow took place on the opposite side from the rabbitry!

We are hoping to fence in the remaining backyard this winter so that mother can just let the dogs in and out from the back door rather than taking them by leash to the dogyard. With her physical limitations, this process is becoming more and more dangerous. I got a good deal on 13 4x4x10 posts and now I just need the fence wire or other material for the fence. Once the backyard is fenced, the dogyard can be converted to other uses. Ideas for it include raising meat chickens or raising Nigerian dwarf goats in it. We go back and forth on the goat idea. The main sticking point is whether we want to be having to milk goats twice a day everyday year around. Probably for next year at least, it will be used to raise meat chickens. The goats are definitely further into the future than 2013.

So, with the chickens finally settled, it's on to the next set of projects. I have a never ending list of projects, one of which is some upgrades to the rabbitry. The upgrades for the rabbitry include changing out the cage supports. Currently the cages are set on sections of fence wire but this is not a good solution. For one, the wire stretches causing sag and shaking. I'm going to use some of the PVC pipe I have in abundance at the moment and make supports for the cages. The other thing I want to do if figure out a way to secure the plastic used to protect them from rain in such a way that it isn't constantly flying up and over the top. I have a few ideas to try on that front.

The other rabbit project I have brewing is to set up a system to grow fodder for the rabbits. Basically, growing wheatgrass and barleygrass for them. This is another project where I'll be using my supply of PVC pipe. I've been reading a lot about the benefits of fodder and there are youtube videos about the process. After much searching, I finally found a source for feed grade wheat. Once I have that, I can begin. They say that there is a 1:15+ ratio when growing fodder -- 15 or more pounds of fodder results from every pound of grain. Now, that is a great way to stretch the feed dollar while simultaneously providing even better nutrition! More on this in future blog entries!

I also have the beginnings of an orchard to plant, the Back-to-Eden garden project continues, and I want to try my hand at propagating the gardenia and azalea bushes. I ordered a bunch of tree seeds to try to grow -- lilacs, dogwoods, mulberries, and "silk trees" (aka momosas). Someone on the organic homesteading list is offering sunchokes for sale and I want to get those as well. And, my seed list for next year is growing by the day! I am so praying for a great year for the homestead in 2013!