This weeks preps check-in

[Brent S]

Yip



I store them in Kilner (canning) jars with an oxygen absorber.
Because I have a very basic dehydrator I only dry smaller or chopped veg such as peas, beans, sweetcorn chopped carrot, things like that. But I think you could probably do more irregular shapes with a more sophisticated machine. I know a friend has done broccoli florets and cauliflower but she did break them up quite small.

I may try that soon, thanks.

 

[Brent S]

I did some grape vine cuttings today. I actually have enough vines now with close to 100, but I am replacing some of the ones I don't like as much. All the cuttings I did today were a large white sccuponon grape that's really sweet. I also just got a new set up for cuttings. It's a black bucket with 12 holes in the lid, and foam inserts in them. It has a mister/bubbler in it to keep the hanging stems moist. I was doing cuttings in potting soil, but only had a 10% success rate at best. This should increase my odds. I'll let you know how it goes.
I also got the new roof fabric fastened down on the greenhouse today. I had draped it up on it earlier, but finally made time to finish it. I have way too many loose ends around here! It feels good to work on some of them.

 

[Brent S]

Oh, I'm finally getting back to my sun room project. It started as a open covered porch, but I wanted a way to heat the house during winter, and possibly grow some more veggies year round. Anyways, the project kind of sat for a while, but I finally got the floor sanded and two coats of polyurethane applied. I'll do one more coat to give a little extra protection, and then make the base boards, caulk and paint. Luckily it's close to done! I'm tired just from talking about it...

 

[Billy Roper]

The day before yesterday we got three eggs, yesterday, none. I guess we have to be real quick and catch them before they eat them. In other news, the wife and I did an advanced level 4.5 mile mountain hike yesterday in 3.5 hours, without water. We were pleased to see we weren't completely decrepit, after all, lol.

 

[Rob Painless]

The day before yesterday we got three eggs, yesterday, none. I guess we have to be real quick and catch them before they eat them.

Yep! We're not getting ANY eggs lately. Changing of the seasons, I guess. Happens about this time every year (not getting eggs, that is. I know the seasons change about this time every year! Because they always ... never mind) Anyway, we've got some friends who keep their chickens penned-up and feed them layer rations, and they are still getting plenty of eggs. But ours run loose and I only feed them some corn, milo & a little layer rations. Actually bought some eggs from the store last week. Yuck. They just look....sick. We're spoiled.

 

[Mountain trapper]

On Friday I bought a 100# propane tank for the well house heater and got the rest of the lumber for the barn floor. Also ordered a set of skidder chains for the tractor. Sunday morning (2am) I drove up to see the kids and grandbabies. It was a stormy trip, trees down and rocks in the road. As I was leaving town I came around a corner and almost hit some cows standing in the road. It turned out to be a 10 hour trip due to the weather, normally only takes 8 hours. Got a 500 gallon propane tank being delivered this Thursday. They'll be hauling more gravel for the road starting today. Only need about 20-30 more loads.

 

[jimLE]

View attachment 6228 View attachment 6227 Oh, I'm finally getting back to my sun room project. It started as a open covered porch, but I wanted a way to heat the house during winter, and possibly grow some more veggies year round. Anyways, the project kind of sat for a while, but I finally got the floor sanded and two coats of polyurethane applied. I'll do one more coat to give a little extra protection, and then make the base boards, caulk and paint. Luckily it's close to done! I'm tired just from talking about it...View attachment 6225

It"s looking great..

 

[Brent S]

On Friday I bought a 100# propane tank for the well house heater and got the rest of the lumber for the barn floor. Also ordered a set of skidder chains for the tractor. Sunday morning (2am) I drove up to see the kids and grandbabies. It was a stormy trip, trees down and rocks in the road. As I was leaving town I came around a corner and almost hit some cows standing in the road. It turned out to be a 10 hour trip due to the weather, normally only takes 8 hours. Got a 500 gallon propane tank being delivered this Thursday. They'll be hauling more gravel for the road starting today. Only need about 20-30 more loads.

And I thought my driveway was expensive to maintain. I am slowly gearing up to pour concrete on it all, just a section at a time.

 

[Mountain trapper]

And I thought my driveway was expensive to maintain. I am slowly gearing up to pour concrete on it all, just a section at a time.

The road going in to our place hasn't been maintained for probably 20 years. We'll get the majority of it rocked this year but I'm guessing that it will need 10-20 loads of rock every year for filling holes and washouts. This is in addition to the rock I'm hauling out of my own gravel pit.

 

[Silent Earth]

Cant you chaps use Geotex or geogrid for your driveways ?

http://www.geogridfabric.com/

 

[Mountain trapper]

Cant you chaps use Geotex or geogrid for your driveways ?

http://www.geogridfabric.com/

I used a similar product in the oil fields for drill pad construction and access roads. It would be very expensive on a driveway like mine. My driveway is about 2+ miles long.

 

[Gazrok]

I keep getting gypsies wanting to repave my drive. I'll deal with a few cracks over paying hundreds of dollars...thanks. More power to 'em, but not high on my list of to do things.

 

[Silent Earth]

I used a similar product in the oil fields for drill pad construction and access roads. It would be very expensive on a driveway like mine. My driveway is about 2+ miles long.

Ah **** OK I see, any natural plants that can be encouraged to grow to tie the ground together, over here some of the wilder strains or grasses and sedums can survive being driven over a couple of times a day?

 

[Brent S]

Ah **** OK I see, any natural plants that can be encouraged to grow to tie the ground together, over here some of the wilder strains or grasses and sedums can survive being driven over a couple of times a day?

The stuff I've seen was just a woven fabric to keep the rocks from sinking in the wet ground. Usually here they just use it on hills or rough patches due to its cost. I like the idea of a natural plant cover though. Just don't know of anything tough enough. I got recycled asphalt on most of mine and love it. It resolidified mostly during summer months and stays on top much better than rock.

 

[Billy Roper]

AND....my chickens use the purpose-built egg rollaway roost for a latrine, then lay their eggs on the ground and eat them, still.

 

[SheilaT.]

Well today I got a few bags of dried beans. I shall start turning some of them into quick cook beans in the dehydrator tomorrow.

 

[Maverick]

These couple of storms we had come through soaked the ground enough we can't turn a couple of our fields so right now we at a standstill till we can dry out a bit, hopefully before the freeze sets in. Hunting season is here so hopefully meat for the freezer, couple of the kids are gearing up for the winter steelhead run.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Got the 500 gal propane tank delivered and setup yesterday. If 500 gal doesn't make it through the winter I'll replace it with a 1,000 gal tank next summer. I won't pay winter prices for propane again. Also bought an 80 watt solar panel to charge the batteries on the trailer. Found some .22 lr ammo at the grocery store this morning. It's been awhile since they've had any in stock. And finally ordered a truck load of 1x12's from the local mill.

 

[Brent S]

Well, I got a chance to need one of my preps today. The toilet was clogged, fun, so when the plunger didn't work I opened the clean out and put a snake down it. All the way to the septic tank. Still nothing flowing. Damn. Dug up the access lids on the tank and that sucker was solid. Really nasty stuff here. Anyways, called a local pump company and for 275.00 I had it pumped out within two hours. The prep I was referring to was cash on hand. I don't have a lot, but was able to cover this little emergency anyways. And believe me, when your toilet dosent flush, most think that's an emergency. This was the first time in ten years I've had the tank pumped. From now on I think I'll do it every five to be safe. Took a well deserved shower right afterwards and am debating on burning the work clothes or not....

 

[Billy Roper]

We spent the day at the shooting range yesterday. I've never seen so many people there. Not a very diverse crowd, either. All talking politics. All 12 rifle positions and 5 pistol positions were full, with lines. While waiting, I networked with several new people. New to me, any way. All of them talking the election and politics and race war. Shocking.

 

[Maverick]

We spent the day at the shooting range yesterday. I've never seen so many people there. Not a very diverse crowd, either. All talking politics. All 12 rifle positions and 5 pistol positions were full, with lines. While waiting, I networked with several new people. New to me, any way. All of them talking the election and politics and race war. Shocking.

I'm seeing similar here though not so much on race as it is on politics and current world events. I think a race war is going to be the least of our worries and that's regardless who is elected.

 

[Silent Earth]

Guns sale across Europe are booming as well as in the US ( except of course the UK ) In Austria for example they are encouraging their females to do shooting and fire arms courses and to apply for gun licences. Everyone EXCEPT the socialists can see what is coming be it in the US, UK, Europe or South Africa. And with respect to my fellow international prepper friends I respectfully dont think they can still says they cannot afford to get out of the cities, I think they cannot afford NOT to get out and join the rest of us white flighters.

 

[Billy Roper]

Interesting. That may be a regional difference. My county is 97% White and everybody was calculating how far it is to the nearest diverse city, and of course it was an all White crowd, so you know how it is, White people are more likely to speak openly about racial issues when there aren't nonWhites around.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Got started on the pig pen today. It's going to have a 16'x40' run with a shelter on one end. Most of the time the pigs will run loose but at night they'll be locked up for protection from predators.

 

[Brent S]

Got started on the pig pen today. It's going to have a 16'x40' run with a shelter on one end. Most of the time the pigs will run loose but at night they'll be locked up for protection from predators.

I've never tried raising a pig before, but have heard how smart they are. I'm suprised you could let them out during the day and they would come back to the enclosure at night.

 

[SheilaT.]

Aldi have Pumpkins reduced so I got a couple (that was all I could carry) one to freeze and one to can. I might get a couple more. Sadly they won't store as the stalk has been cut too short.

 

[Billy Roper]

Man, I remember chasing pigs as a kid when they got loose. How are you going to catch them to put them back up at night, just call them with feed?

 

[Brent S]

Aldi have Pumpkins reduced so I got a couple (that was all I could carry) one to freeze and one to can. I might get a couple more. Sadly they won't store as the stalk has been cut too short.

I'm not huge pumpkin fan, but my wife likes them. What do you to can yours?

 

[Brent S]

Man, I remember chasing pigs as a kid when they got loose. How are you going to catch them to put them back up at night, just call them with feed?

There you go, I'm sure they are smart enough to learn where to go for food. After a few feedings in the late afternoon I bet it would be easy.

 

[jimLE]

Ah **** OK I see, any natural plants that can be encouraged to grow to tie the ground together, over here some of the wilder strains or grasses and sedums can survive being driven over a couple of times a day?

The stuff I've seen was just a woven fabric to keep the rocks from sinking in the wet ground. Usually here they just use it on hills or rough patches due to its cost. I like the idea of a natural plant cover though. Just don't know of anything tough enough. I got recycled asphalt on most of mine and love it. It resolidified mostly during summer months and stays on top much better than rock.

i'm not sure if this can be grown where yall be at or not,..but here's one type of grass that we had in a yard,of a home we lived in one time..the runners grow thick and everywhere.and not much in grass blades,and it didn't need mowing that often.and a very hardy grass..i figure it might work on the driveway,and any embankments yall might have..

http://centipedegrass.com/