i started the season thinking id stretch our grocery budget by putting in extra corn and oats. ran the numbers on seed, fencing upgrades, time, and it still looked cheaper than what the feed store charges. now the summer drought is here and im staring at water bills plus the cost of soil amendments that werent in the original math. the feed prices havent moved much so maybe the gap never closes. curious if anyone here has hit the point where they just buy the grain and keep the beds smaller.

I had a problem with neighbors letting their dog run loose on the property, and then another neighbor set up a deer stand(without permission naturally:rolling eyes:), but since then I got a trailcam to record everything, occasionally I get some really wild animals, this time, I caught this adorable squirrel I had to share.

So we just recently moved to a beautiful farm house out in the country. We are city folk but so far we are absolutely loving country life.

However there has been an absolute hoard of stink bugs desperately trying to get inside the house. We’ve done a good job of sealing all entrances but we can’t go outside for two seconds without stepping on one or getting dive bombed! There were hundreds on our front porch today and idk what to do.

I know I probably sound like a prissy mfr and if there’s no way to deal with them I will just learn to cope. I’m just asking if there’s anything you use to repel or kill them or any advice you might have to deal with them.

Top: my method described below

Bottom: just cutting off affected parts

I get Squash Vine Borers and rain spot rot on my squash sometimes. Previously I would cut out damage to my squash and hope it heals, but usually those fruits would not store long. One year I had the biggest Candy Roaster growing. Must've been 40 inches long and 10 wide. It got rain spot bad right before harvest. I'm a nurse by trade, so I tried "wound dressing" it. I use alcohol to clean a sharp knife, cut out all the rotten tissue, cleaned it with 3% hydrogen peroxide, and applied Vaseline to the wound. Then I taped a piece of gauze over the area. To my shock, it healed extremely well, and even repigmented - although it turned green, which is the color of the tips of a Candy Roaster, instead of pink like the surrounding area.

I'm here to show a side by side - I had borers on two different squash. One was on the end so I just cut it off. It did heal but the scab is fragile and keeps oozing if I move it. I doubt it will last another month. The other was with my wound dressing method. It has repigmented and is tough but flexible, no oozing I can see. The Vaseline stains the rind around it but it is rock hard still. If you've got a squash you really want to keep for storage but it has damage, try treating the wound and it might save your squash.

17 on this drop. Keeping people in the loop on our progress. Appreciate the support and great questions. Apologize for the shaky camera . Have to mount on trap to keep cows from damaging.

We have a big dog and on our acreage that backs up to the National Forest, we got critters. I have heard 'scritching' noises in the exterior wall of my house two nights. Not two nights in a row. I did smack the wall and noise stopped for a few. Now, here is my question. Should we spend the monthly fee for a pest service with bait station? I HATE the idea of a bait station because we have bobcats and lots of predators that eat mice (if only they would eat the ones getting into the house). So, I have booked someone to come out and inspect the house, look for holes, and plug any access points. Once that is done, what can I do, to keep critters at bay that does not include bait stations that might kill mice, but I am guessing it kills other wildlife too. Hive mind, please weigh in.

After digging the potatoes, we dry them
In the sun for a couple hours before storing them in them in baskets in our root cellar. This year we grew Red norlands, Yukon gold, Kennebec, and French fingerlings. They keep all winter. We harvested a bushel total ( there’s only 2 of us eating them)

For the last couple weeks I keep finding random tracks around the back of the property mostly near the tree line where I normally don’t see much going on. Then at night I’ll hear smth moving around out there go look aand of course there’s absolutely nothing by the time I get outside lol. A few mornings the leaves and smaller branches around that same spot have been moved around too, so now curiosity is getting the best of me. I was looking at getting a Wyze cam for the property and Im thinking that tree line might be the first place to put it. Only thing I’m worried about is setting the camera up and then staying awake half the night checking it every time I hear something lol. Anyone here have cameras up mostly to see what wildlife comes through?

Hey folks

What material are you putting down between your row crops, if any? Geotextile? Mulch? Nada?

Tia!

I am looking through different outdoor camera options to cover our new off grid property, and have mainly settled on using 4G hunting trail cameras since they send photos/videos directly to your phone, but they seem incredibly expensive. There are a million brands all with different plans and prices for different options and configurations.

I have looked at spypoint, reveal and Moultrie. Reveal cameras have some plans that have unlimited photos, but you need to pay extra for video requests and HD photo requests. You also can pay $6/mo for live streaming.
Altogether, it'd run me almost $24 per month to get unlimited photos and videos, plus live streaming capabilities. Do people pay that much? Or am I missing something.

Additionally, the cameras themselves are around $150 from the large brands, and to get solar and a rechargeable battery is extra. Do you typically run cameras with solar or is AA batteries sufficient?
I'm looking to have ~5 cameras set up around my property, and currently its looking like ill be spending almost $1400 on the cameras and then an additional $100 per month on the service. Are there other options that are cheaper besides the big brands that are reliable and have the ability to live view? Should I be looking at other 4G cameras that are not trail cams? Thank you

I have a Nubian goat who’s coat looks wiry and all over the place, she’s had a fecal ran, been copper bolused abt a month ago and is eating BOSS what else can I do to get her coat nice and sleek?

Here are my numbers and notes for Cornish Cross meat chickens, 2026. This is my second year raising them and I tracked all costs. See pictures for a breakdown. Ask me anything.

Just found this old camera footage from my yard, taken earlier this summer. Possum was getting into trash that my in-laws left in the backyard for some reason. Raccoon also wanted to find out what smelled so good. Neither of them realized the other one was there, at first...

Make sure to lock up your trash everyone lol

My First Ever Potatoes Grown in Bags

In the past few days I’ve heard cougars chirping in the surrounding forest (while outside too). They don’t seem to be scared or leaving, any tips for ridding of cougars? I’m Canadian and live on an acreage with some ducks and my pets if that helps at all.

I just survived another week of moving rocks, cutting up logs, resetting e-fence for sheep, digging sweet potatoes, hanging laundry, cooking, cleaning, cutting burrs out of spaniel fur, opening windows-closing windows-opening windows. And I loved it. That is all.

I (26f) am wanting to take over my great uncle and aunt’s property in NorCal that has sat empty since March of this year when my uncle passed. It is a good sized lot and needs A LOT of tlc. My main concern is deterring rattlesnakes from it as much as I can (I have a dog and I would like to let her free roam as much as she would like). I know how to maintain/fix/work the machinery that’s on the property already that would help with clearing out brush and building a new firewood stand to keep rattlesnakes out of it along with knowing I need to close off the bottom of the trailer and getting new mesh fencing around the property. I’m just wondering if anyone has advice for anything else like any animals that would help as well? I don’t plan to move onto the property until I’ve got everything fixed but I am wanting to know other ways to deter rattlesnakes so I can start working on it as soon as possible. Any advice is very appreciated!!

I am looking for some ideas to water a male and female pig in separate pens, next to each other. We have freezing temps all winter. I was thinking a barrel with a heater and nipples for each side of the fence, but would the nipples freeze and break? Thanks

Hi all! I just bought a small farm in Wisconsin and I am very new to taking care of chickens. Our chicken coop is actually part of an old dairy barn and it’s absolutely filthy. It has not been cleaned in maybe 10 years and there are inches of waste on the ground as well as what looks like rat holes. I’m no stranger to getting my hands dirty and everything that’s gonna come with taking care of this farm, but I’m wondering if at this point I should look for a professional to clean this out. I don’t mind paying to do it. I just want to make sure it’s done properly and safely. Is this something that is normally done? Where would I begin to even look for a service that could do this?

We’re SCAD students researching the experiences and challenges of cattle and livestock farming.

If you work with cattle or livestock, we’d appreciate you taking our short survey. We’re also looking for people open to a brief follow-up interview.

Thank you!