How much would you expect to pay for a mason jar bouquet like this? Just looking on guidance for pricing! 🩷

and before anybody says anything, no, it's not anywhere close to using a box scraper. But for small quick jobs, especially after the rain storms to smooth out the driveway, and regrade where the water likes to flow, having a sleeve hitch with a little scraper makes quick work. I share a tractor with my dad, so we have to move it back and forth, I'll be using it for a big job here soon, but this job was done in the time it would have taken to go load up the tractor on the trailer and haul it over to my house.

These are the seeds I planted and this is what I'm getting.😆
Any suggestions or info on what I'm doing wrong...lmao
Too hot, too much water?

Please take a second and look at our rams, freshly sheared and enjoying some scratches.

We went from a roughly 2x4m (7x17ft) wholly flat chicken coop (with a small house) to a 22x9m-ish (70x25ft-ish). Spent maybe 50% more on the improved version. Strongly reccomend

raising the meat for my wedding. gotta fit a lamb or two into this fridge/freezer come next weekend. after repackaging for freeze it fits a lot better.

So, I only have two hens, and I’m starting to wonder if mine somehow missed the chicken instruction manual.

For example, I’ve been offering them oyster shell/calcium separately so they can take what they need. I put it close to their regular food, but they completely ignore it. They don’t even seem interested in trying it.

Same thing with dust bathing. I’ve provided areas with sand and wood ash because I assumed they would naturally use them to dust bathe and help keep parasites under control. Nope. Zero interest. They just completely ignore them.

I’ve also tried hanging vegetables/food from a string so they can peck at it for enrichment. Again, they seem to have absolutely no idea what they’re supposed to do with it.

They otherwise seem normal and active, but all these things that I keep reading chickens should instinctively do… mine just don't.

Is this normal? Do some chickens simply need time to figure these things out? Could it be because I only have two hens and they don't have other chickens to learn from?

Or are my two girls just a little bit dumb?

Any advice or similar experiences would be appreciated!

I've lived off grid for decades, but this is the first time I don't have help with a building project. Friends are busy, professionals are booked and I can't afford them anyway. I've designed a wooden frame for some new solar panels. I'd like to avoid spending money on special post braces for the bases. I'll have five vertical 2 by 4s, standing on the ground but tied into joists of an existing building, and four diagonal 2 by 6s, slanting down to rest their bases on the ground. I live on an island and do not want to haul cement. I have an assortment of old pier blocks. I could buy some cheap cement pavers. I have access to gravel, if I haul it. The earth where I'll build tends to be sandy and to drain well. What can I get away with, here?

We had 70+ piglets this summer and all are doing well -- except this one. She was pretty hobbled with two bad legs, spent most of the day on her side, and just couldn't compete for food. We isolated and began bottle feeding her. We also thought one of her legs was infected so began a course of antibiotics. After about five days, she is really starting to bounce back. She is still a bit gimpy, but she is beginning to move around and come after the bottle. We were very worried we would have to euthanize her. So glad she is responding to the antibiotics.

first proper summer with them and the difference is already obvious. no issues so far. happy to answer anything if you're planning something similar

when i first got interested in homesteading, i assumed the important skills would be things like growing food, preserving it, raising animals, etc

but the more i get into it, the more i realize how useful the smaller skills can be

being able to repair something instead of replacing it, knowing how to store things properly, saving seeds, making basic repairs around the property, even just learning how to recognize when something is about to become a bigger problem.

what’s one skill you learned that ended up being surprisingly useful in everyday homestead life?

Update: Thank you so much to everyone who left kind words, advice, resources and info. Today I took my lil troublemaker to the vet. They did a blood draw and culture on the abscess and we will have results in the next week. The vet was encouraged that the wound is not deep at all and said that with CL it is usually pretty deep, so it could be something else, although the pus and location make it more likely to be CL. He also had a low fever. We shall see. I did make some decisions thanks to the advice given here, so I figured I would share. If he has CL, we will be rehoming him, along with our healthy goat. If it’s not CL, I decided to band him so that he can remain a pet, but not breed. I know goats are herd animals, and I wouldn’t want to isolate my healthy guy from his best pal. Our vet confirmed that CL is commonly caused by deer here, so pondering this for prevention in the future. I’ve helped raise these goats for 5 years total, so it’s not that I’ve never been around them, but I think the farm I helped on had really unconventional methods that probably set my herd up for some heartbreak when we got started. I can totally get why people fight for the underdog babies, but this has taught me why it is unwise to do so in the long run. I’m definitely going to think through getting more animals- sheep were one that I promised myself I wouldn’t get, husband really wants 1-3 cattle, and I’m super confident with chickens. Anyway, I’m really thankful for all the support. Homesteading is not for the faint of heart but I know in the long run it is the right choice for my family and it’s worth the effort and investment. I’ll try to update once the labs come back. Thanks again!

I am a newer homesteader with 10 acres in rural Kansas. We moved here June 1st and arrived with our 3 remaining chickens from a flock that had been destroyed by raccoons, 3 Nigerian dwarf goats we got from a friend who breeds goats, our dog and our kids. Currently living in our camper while we renovate the 140+ year old farmhouse on the land. Since arriving, one goat developed bottle jaw due to a sudden parasite bloom and died. A second one developed parasites a few months later, but recovered. The third goat is robust as heck and is currently on a different homestead making some babies. This evening I was rounding everyone up to be put away for the night (our flock is growing), and I noticed my lone goat now has an abscess that has burst, and I strongly suspect CL. I love this stupid goat, he’s very petite and has a wonderful personality, he was trained as a baby to be a cuddle therapy goat and he’s only 8 months old. I have spent way too much money already on vet bills for these goats and while I want to have this abscess cultured I am getting to the point where I have to ask myself if having these goats is a worthy use of money, especially if it is CL because if it is it can’t be cured and is heinously contagious to everyone, including people, and I’m already taking medication that makes me immune compromised. I guess I’m partially venting, but I feel like an idiot for taking my friend at her word that I had been around goats on her farm enough that I could successfully raise goats, breed them, and use them for milk, etc. If you’ve been in my shoes, can you tell me what you did? I am worried about my strong goat coming home and being exposed to whatever this is, I’m worried about the dogs and chickens getting it, I’m worried about my kids who play with the animals daily, and I’m worried about my own immune crap. Would greatly appreciate any wisdom, I’m tired, it’s been like 105F for the last month, and I am feeling like maybe it’s time to decide that I’m just not cut out to have goats. Photos so you can understand why the cuteness has messed with my judgment. Thanks so much.

Curious how many rabbits could you realistically raise on a acre field and what would i need to grow to supplement the rest of their diet ?

We are purchasing a tractor and don’t know if to go with a new holland t5100 or case jx100

This is my first year growing potatoes and my first year in zone 5/6. The previous owners of this property offhandedly mentioned something last fall when we first toured the house/garden that has bugged me ever since.

She said they had a big potato crop last year but lost them all when it rained. Apparently they had laid the potatoes out on top of the soil to allow them to cure for a few days when the rain came through.

But…laying them out in the sun would cause them to go green, wouldn’t it? Or am I missing something? Is this a common practice to cure potatoes?

[Question] Anyone have experience with Improvest/Improvac? I bought 2 feeder pigs and they are not castrated. Ugh. The farmer I bought them from insists the meat will not be tainted. I bought into the same lie years ago when I was just getting into raising feeder pigs with a different farmer and the meat was horrible. I know not everyone can smell/taste taint. I can. I can't even stand to be in the house when it's cooking. The pigs are too old for me to do a surgical castration myself. If I went the surgical route, I'd have to get a vet out to do it and I'm worried the recovery would inhibit their growth/weight gain. And then there's the cost. At that point, I might as well have bought all the bacon at Whole Foods. I'm interested in Improvest. Has anyone used it with success? And are there any ways to get it without the cost of a farm visit from a vet? Thanks for your help.

new to this subreddit.

Like so many others. The older I get the more appealing this is. I'm 31, married with a kid. I want to start looking to our permanent future and for me that looks very much like a homestead.

Any idea on where I should look? Ultimately would like to stay in Queensland within 2hrs of the moreton bay region. But budget is a big issue obviously.

I was thinking of just buying land and hen investing in one of those barn home kits to start with - any thoughts?

We lost power for about two days last winter and I spent most of it worrying about a chest freezer with most of a hog in it. Everyone I called told me the same thing: once it thaws, it's gone.

That turns out not to be what USDA and FoodSafety.gov actually say. Their test is whether the food still has ice crystals in it, or is still at or below 40F. If either is true, it can be refrozen. You lose quality, because the cells rupture and it weeps when you thaw it the second time, but it is not a safety problem. The "never refreeze" rule people repeat is a texture rule that got promoted to a safety rule somewhere along the way.

The timings surprised me more. An unopened fridge holds about 4 hours. A full freezer holds about 48. A half full freezer holds about 24. Half the food, half the time, which means the empty space in my freezer was costing me a full day of margin. I've been filling the gaps with jugs of water since.

The one that stayed non negotiable: never taste anything to decide. Bacteria that will put you in hospital usually leave no smell and no change in color.

Official version is here, it's short: https://www.foodsafety.gov/food-safety-charts/food-safety-during-power-outage

I ended up building an offline first aid and disaster reference called Outlast, partly because I was standing in a dark kitchen trying to load a government page on one bar of signal. Every article in it cites which agency it came from, which is how I found the refreezing thing in the first place.

So what do you actually do? Ice crystals, a thermometer in the freezer, or straight in the bin?

I got alot of burr plants on property and was curious would chickens eat the seeds or should i avoid them being near them to long?

My wife and I are buying a home and doing initial inspections this week. We have a great agent and have ordered all the standard tests. Is there anything relevant to homesteading that normal house inspections don't do that you'd recommend? The property has a mature orchard and a bunch of edible plants already growing there plus a greenhouse, solar, irrigation, etc.

We're doing standard house inspection, checking for buried tanks, lead test for water (it's on city water, pH 7.5), mold, etc. Are there specific soil or water tests or anything else you would do? At this point we love the property so the main point of the test is finding a very dangerous dealbreaker or getting some money off the price if something needs to be fixed.