The garden and farm thread

Figured I'd start 1. Please share.
Started my plants on an exercise program..
Oscillating fan on a. Timer to strengthen them.
Any tips or suggestions welcomed .
I'm looking to purchase berries soon. Your favorite strawberry that produce well ?
I did a 3 tier circular patch using landscape edging before that worked well .

How the heck can a guy get rid of that stupid Tomato Blight?    If the early blight doesn't get me with stunted or nasty tasting fruit, the late blight wipes me out.    I got hit hard with the late blight when it was flying around the area and I understand the blight survives in the soil but I used gardening soil, from a supplier and grew plants in pots (that did well til the fruits tried ripening) last year and still got whacked. 

https://www.burpee.com/fruit/strawberry-plants/

Question: Chickens:
I haven't had chickens in 40 years. We had a barn then.
My son is looking and building a chicken group for eggs. Tips to help are welcome.
We built a pen from pallets and the coup is going on top in the framed box.
Honestly, I want nothing to do with chickens but any suggestions folks can pass along will cut down on the mistakes.
Thanks

I figure I would be far ahead $$ wise not having chickens. Especially in the winter when you can't let them out. There is not enough meat on good egg layers. They are excellent pest control though.

Clint S
I figure I would be far ahead $$ wise not having chickens. Especially in the winter when you can't let them out. There is not enough meat on good egg layers. They are excellent pest control though.

My thoughts too Clint but he is young and ambitious so he has to learn.
I'm about getting 2-3 pigs as livestock next year.

You won't be money ahead with chickens unless you are selling hatching eggs and young birds, and honestly that gets to be a pain for me. I have gotten mostly dual purpose (and rather broody) breeds and let them hatch out their own next generations. We pressure can the roosters and I make broth from the carcasses and grind up the bones and feed the mush back to the dogs and other birds. The canned meat and broth are excellent and worth the effort...but I like the 'old fashioned' self reliant stuff any day vs buying at the grocery!

hot tuna

Clint S
I figure I would be far ahead $$ wise not having chickens. Especially in the winter when you can't let them out. There is not enough meat on good egg layers. They are excellent pest control though.

My thoughts too Clint but he is young and ambitious so he has to learn.
I'm about getting 2-3 pigs as livestock next year.

 
  Young & ambitious, go for it!
 
 When my sons were young we had Bobwhite, Chukar, Peafowl, Chickens, Ducks, Coturnix, Turkey, different types of Pheasant, Doves, Geese, Crow, Screech Owl, Pigs, Goat, Foxes, Coons, Rabbits, Tortoise & I'm sure other critters as well. Now I'm down to a bait pond!! 
 
 On the berries I got 'em off my old man when he was thinning out. Work to keep up from spreading & weeds but tasty, too bad they get mushy after picking so fast. Wold never go back to the June crop the ever-bare is here. Would think 24 roots would be a good start with how fast they spread.
 
crappy

Clint S
Pigs eat anything and the only downside is keeping them penned in. We do two a year in an inside modified horse pen.
 
Fish guts, left overs, even grass and weeds from the garden  goes in the pig pen.  Any meat or veggies go to the chickens.
Fisherldy what do you use to grind for dog food and do you worry about bones. I would like to do this.

I pressure cook the bones, feet and skin with a couple cups of water per carcass for 90 minutes at 15lb pressure. Then strain fluid through cheesecloth for broth (which I pressure can) then I take the (now falling apart) bones and run them through an old sausage grinder. If you dont use the gizzard, liver and hearts for anything you can boil them for a bit till cooked through and throw them in the grinder with the rest.

The result is a chicken mush which looks like crumbles sausage, no bone pieces big enough to cause any problems. The mush gets frozen in a cupcake tin till solid, then pop them out like ice cubes and stick them in a gallon zippy bag until you need them. Just defrost as needed...everything is already cooked. They make a nice treat for the chickens and the dogs absolutely love it.
My Mom has a dog with off and on digestion trouble who is a picky eater, she keeps a supply of the 'pucks' for any time there is a problem. My dogs just like it as a added treat. 1 puck plus 1/2 cup of water makes a tasty slurry to add to their dry food.

I think I have a grinder somewhere from my granny. I will try the pressure canning trick this spring when I ''thin the flock'' of the 6 2 year olds. I will probably only add 2 layers though as I have 11 now  and that's too many. With what turkeys cost ($7) and the feed they eat you probably have $15 plus dollars for a 20# bird. I usually do 2 and name them thanksgiving and Christmas.  I will probably do a few roasters too.  

Got 2 more free crates today and another rain barrel. Crates are 3' wide -6' long and anywhere from 12" deep to 4 feet deep.
I work in an industrial plant and we have been getting a lot of machinery in these REALLY nice wooden crates as well as some hundred uniform pallets from Germany.
The pallets are real sweet with 4×4 stringers ( no bottoms) and 1x4 top slats. They look brand new and we got about 200 plus.

My thoughts and please offer suggestions.
I'd like to line the crates with roll plastic sheeting and the bottom with landscape weed block on just bottom over the plastic.
My reasoning is not to let the wood absorb the water and keep moisture in , with drain holes at bottom. Good idea or no ?

Can you tell I'm ready for spring :)
Well, I got a SR trip next weekend first.
My boat dock for stripers is secured. She goes in April 15th. Don't delay to secure a spot aboard the soulshine.

I really been thinking about the recycling program here. Typically I toss all the shipping crates and pallets onto a wooden dumpster at work. We pay for that service and I'm quite sure all the wood gets ground to mulch. Honestly, I don't want that stuff as mulch and would rather use it for my needs.

In that regard, I'm planning my pig farm now. I got the space and fencing.
Here is some things I've observed locally and thoughts in my mind.
We call it a quanza hut. Take a fuel tank or something and cut in half, giving 2 sections. Basically it's a protection cover. Raise the half up on block or wood and hay the bottom.
Thoughts on 2 or 3 pigs ? Best time to buy ?

Thanks fisherlady, I did some research this morning as well. I'm pretty sure it's a go on the pigs next month.

This was yesterday's crate score. We keep getting these and I will keep taking them as long as I can

Thanks. Wife thought I could make something for her as well. I like the idea of them just being dirt boxes for veggies because other then add dirt, no carpentry skills required, lol.
The pallets are even better quality. The pigs are a go next month. I can think of many uses for free wood . Some type of feeder from the pallets.

I thought about syrup and honey bees.
That seems like a lot of work for the little return.
We don't use all that much of either, so cost of about $40.00 per year usage didn't add up to my time.. I work with a few guys that do each..