Journey into Self-sufficiency

Monday, March 21, 2011

What's new?

Planted Yukon Gold potatoes on the second but I'm wondering about them cause they haven't broken the surface of the soil yet and we didn't plant them very deep at all?

The Blue Silver Fox rabbit (Bella) is getting quite big and is already in need of a bigger cage. I also got the Golden Delicious apple tree planted

Yeah, gotta cut down all that dead grass from last year lol. This is my favorite variety of apple and supposedly doesn't need a pollinator (although will produce better with one) so we'll see how it goes. I know it will be several years before it starts producing so I need to learn all about organic maintenance for it. The blueberries aren't looking too good (surprise, surprise) I tend to be a blueberry murderer....one day I will have luck growing those little buggars. The blackberry and raspberry are budding quite nicely and even the strawberries that the cats destroyed are trying to make a comeback.

Things on the to do list are still:
build rabbit hutches
expand chicken yard
fix leaky roof
put more shelves in pantry
dig and build more garden beds

There's lots more but all I my tired little brain can think of at the moment.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Blue Silver Fox doeling

This is my new farm addition...Bella...almost 8 week old Blue Silver Fox rabbit. She was born Jan 13, 2011

Isn't she just the cutest thing? More pics in the future...

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Loving this beautiful weather!

My 14 year old planted a potato bed yesterday (yukon gold) and I made my rounds taking the weekly pics of the garden so far. Chickens started laying on the 7th of last month and we got a total of 28 eggs out of 4 chickens. I really hope the production picks up. Can't let them free range due to very small land, too many predators (and I don't think they are really allowed in the community lol) but we feed 'em like crazy. I turned the rabbit hutch into a big nest box lol. I loved the hutch, but just too much trouble having to pull the bottom out and clean it so often. I prefer the rabbit poop to just fall through the wire onto the ground so I can scoop it up to add to garden or compost bin. Got my 3rd blueberry plant, the accidental raspberry, and the blackberry all planted. Some of the strawberry plants that I thought had died are pushing some leaves up through the dirt (YAY!) So, here are some pics for your enjoyment :)

This is the new shelf my daughter and I put up

in the pantry that will hold the crates of food

This is my 12 year old daughter's cat Prince Buddy

checking the sturdiness of the shelf lol

Shelf with the crates of food

almost a perfect fit

Here are some pics of the chicken yard I built with the panels that can be moved around. It's not gonna stay this small, just ran outta money.

And here is the rabbit hutch nest box I converted for them to lay in.

I apologize for the blurriness

And here are more pics of Destiny's (my 14 yo) NZ mix buck Snickerdoodle

coming out to get his daily treat of a few pieces of fresh grass

And here is Dizzy planting the potatoes

The 'accidental' raspberry. I wasn't paying attention and thought I grabbed 2 blackberry plants lol

Current pic of the strawberries

The Blackberry Plant

The Tifblue blueberry plant

And last, but not least, the dead looking Tango Mandarin orange tree

that I planted last year

And I will be leaving at 9am tomorrow for the 6 hour drive (3 there, 3 back) for my new Blue Silver Fox doeling! I'm very excited to have the chance to breed this rare, heritage breed. I will post pics of her ASAP.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Freebies, and updates

Ok, so been back in my place for about a week now. In this issue: Put new walls in pantry, built a chicken yard, Got 3 rabbits (2 I bought, 1 I got for free), Got some free Romex wire and junction boxes, bought 3 blueberry plants; 2 blackberry plants; asparagus, rhubarb; golden delicous apple tree; and several packs of seeds, bought a deep freezer, a birdhouse, some bird feeders, got a great price on about 15 bags of mulch and humus, (and got a dumptruck load of mulch delivered for free) hmmmm....I know there's probably more. lol I've been busy, busy, busy!

Here is a current pic of the tiered garden beds.

Looks really unlevel, but it's not

Here are some before and after pics of a little 'room' space that was in my house. I think the previous owners had a wood heater there or something.

UGLY!

Looks really, really ugly before.

Now, here are a few 'after' pics. It's not done yet...still have to put the shelving up, but here's what's done so far. The wood used for this was given to me for free :)

This is the mini deep freezer that I bought from Lowe's for under $150. I know someone that works there so I was at least able to use a discount card

I'm building a chicken yard using panels that I'm building and rebar so that it can be easily disassembled. I've only got a pic of one of the panels so will take more pics soon.

This is made with dog wire and 2x2's and u-nails.

Bought a rabbit hutch with 2 rabbits for $125. The female is a blue tipped Himalayan and the male is a Polish mix

"Smokey"

"Charcoal"

These are some pics of their rabbit hutch.

This is "Snickerdoodle" He's a New Zealand mix
we got for free

Got this rabbit hutch for free. Yeah, I know it needs a new roof

but hey, it was FREE!

Another pic of the free rabbit hutch

Cubby under counter

Smart storage for Raaman noodles

Crate full of Raaman noodles

fits perfectly!

Free small fridge that was given
to me when I realized my

fridge in my camper had stopped

working.

Some of the milk crates I bought from a thrift store 3/$1.00
I plan on using them on my shelves in the pantry to
store food in so it's more easily rotated and stays
neater on the shelves.