Potatoes in Bins

Keeping with the theme, "The garden is a living class room for our mind.", we try to add something new here to the farm every year.  This year we decided we would try to grow potatoes, but instead of growing them in the ground, we wanted to try them in raised beds.  The reason for this was simply space.  Since all of our growing is done in town, we a lot of times run low on space so most of the gardening we do here is above ground.

To start this project we used:

(25) 1" x 6" x 24" boards

(4) 2" x 2" x 30" pieces of wood

(120) 1 x 5/8 screws

cordless drill 

To start out we laid 2 pieces of the 2" x 2" x 30" pieces of wood on the ground and then attached 5 pieces of 1" x 6" x 24" to the the 2" x 2" pieces with 3 evenly placed screws.

We did that twice, and then attached 5 more boards to the third side.  After you finish this you should have what looks like a 3 sided box.  

On the 4th side we added only one board to the bottom.  

We filled this with 1-2" of peat moss/compost/manure and then added our potatoes.  Because the box is 2' x 2' we were able to place 16 potato pieces in the box.  (You can plant 4 potato plants per square foot...) and we covered them with 1 inch of our soil mixture.  

When the plants sprout out of the soil about 2-3" you completely cover them again, just enough so you can't see any green.  You do this over and over again until your potatoes get to the top of the box and then wait for the tops to turn brown.  At that point it is harvest time!  

Please keep in mind that I have not harvested this way yet.  We are up to our fourth board, and our potatoes are growing like crazy!  I think this is going to be amazing, but if you want to make sure you can wait for The Reluctant Farmer and I to harvest these in the fall.....

How To: Powder Laundry Detergent

The Reluctant Farmer and I have been saying that we wanted to make our own laundry soap for several weeks, however we had just not done it yet.  Finally, after laundry had reached an ultimate high, and the amount of detergent we had on hand  had reached an ultimate low, we decided to make our own laundry soap.  This recipe is so simple, and fast that there is no excuse not to give it a try.

You will need:

1 cup of Borax

1 cup of Washing Soda

1 bar of soap

A marge mixing bowl

A cheese grater

A blender

A container for your finished product

Grate the soap into small pieces.  Add the soap to the blender.  Then add the washing soda to the blender, and blend until the product is in a semi-powder form.  Put the borax into a large mixing bowl and then stir in the soap/washing soda mixture from the blender and you are finished! 

VARIATIONS: 

My friend Maria adds Purex Crystals to a similar recipe for add scent, and she loves it.  So, if you decide you want extra scent give that a try!

The Reluctant Farmer has played around with this recipe and in the second batch that she made, she added 1/3 cup of Oxyclean to the mixture for extra stain fighting properties.  

You should use heaping tablespoon of soap per regular load of laundry, although you can use 2 tablespoons of your laundry is extra dirty or a large load.

Not only is this soap super effective, it is super cheap to make!

The boxes of Borax and washing soda run $4.00 each.  The bar of soap cost me about $1.00 per bar to make.  You should get 192 loads of laundry for about $8.00 and still have a few cups of Borax left over for your next batch.  That equates to $0.04 per load of laundry!

I swear that my clothes feel cleaner and lighter than they do when washed in my regular detergent.  On top of that, saving money makes my wallet feel lighter too!

This post shared  with some of my favorite farm friends at:

How To: Cat Proof Grow Station!

Well, this project won't get any point for beauty, but it might get points for ingenuity!  Last week I posted a project that showed my readers how to make an affordable grow light station, and let me tell you it worked like a charm.  I had zinnias germination in 12 hours and tomatoes in 72 hours.  It was amazing!  The only difficult was the cats kept getting into my seedlings.  I added some foil sides to that grow station and the cats stayed out of it for the most part.  

My seedlings quickly outgrew that growing station, and I really wanted to start some different plants so I decided to move my seedlings somewhere else.  The problem was that my cats are everywhere and I needed a place to keep the seedlings safe.  It then dawned on me that you could basically make a grow station in a very large dog crate with a few modifications.  

We pulled our dog crate out of the basement and set it up in the dining room.

Then we hung our lights on chains from the inside.  (I am going to hang 1 or 2 more fixtures, but my bulb wasn't working so I need to return it tonight...)    

I then added the magic cat proof barrier to the outside of the crate.  (Magic cat proof barrier is also known as aluminium foil.)  I put this on with the shiny side facing inward toward the crate so that the light hitting the foil will reflect back in on the plants.  (My cats, which are pretty bold, HATE aluminium foil!)  

Finished product!  Happy seedlings!

If this is going to be your only grow station then I would recommend having the foil come off the sides of the light fixture, making a tent so that you can keep some of the moisture in for the seedlings in the beginning, otherwise I think my contraption is going to work like a charm until I can move these plants outdoors.  Then I will be squirrel proofing them, which is a whole different ballgame!  



Shared on the following blog hops:

How To: Affordable Grow Light Station

Per the groundhog we are going to have an early spring this year, and in order to get a jump start on my gardening I wanted to start seeds inside this year.  In previous years I started seeds in a portable green house but didn't always have success with the seeds starting due to the seeds molding and never sprouting.  Last week I went shopping for grow lights, and was amazed that the fixture itself was $150.00!  Discouraged I decided to try and make my own grow lights.  I came across a video on you tube (http://www.youtube.com/feed/UCptL6_qMImyW_yZwiMjQdpg) that outlined how to make a grow station at home for $30.00.  

In order to make the grow station you need the following supplies:

-  (1) T12 light fixture

- (2) fluorescent bulbs that fit a T12 fixture

- (1) 10 foot section of 1 inch PVC

- (2) 1" PVC elbows

- (2) 1" PVC T pieces

To complete the project you will need:

- A tape measure

- A hacksaw

- A marker

First cut your PVC in 7 sections.  You will need (1) 56" piece, (2) 14" pieces, and (4) 9" pieces.  Then put the pieces together like shown in the pictures and video.  Put the light bulbs in the light fixture and attach it to the PVC frame.  

I made a few changes to the project:

- Instead of using plain fluorescent light bulbs, I used actual grow bulbs.  The lumens were much higher in the grow bulbs than the fluorescent bulbs, so even thought they were a few dollars more I splurged for a few more lumens.

- I added more links to the chain that came with the fixture so that I could lower the light and make it closer to the growing medium so my seedlings would not become "leggy".

This light station is amazing and works like a charm!  It cost a bit more than $30.00.  The shop light was $9.00 more than his, and I spent and extra $10.00 on the grow bulbs, but even at $50.00 I was still well below the cost of buying a light station from the garden catalog and hydroponics store.  

This post shared on the following blog hops:

I can't believe it's butter!

For my entire life I have only ever eaten butter.  Real butter.  My mother has never used margarine or artificial butter in anything she has cooked, and my uncle who I spent all of my summers with as a child never used margarine either.  I grew up knowing that margarine was unhealthy for me.  If you want to learn the difference between butter and margarine come over for any holiday, my mother and my uncle will be sure to educate you!  

Since being on my own there has never been any question, in my house we use butter.  The Reluctant Farmer and decided to try to make our own butter last night.  We had heard it was easy to do, and figured if we bought our own cream from a local farmer we could buy locally and live healthier!  

We had very vague directions from a book, and after a failed attempt we finally figured it out.  It tasted great and it was super easy!  

To make butter you need a pint of heavy whipping cream and 1 tsp. of salt.  You put those 2 ingredients into your mixer (with the paddle or whisk attachment attached!) and mix it on high for several minutes until it "breaks".

Adding the ingredients to the mixer.  (Note this attachment is not conducive to butter making!)

The cream thickened but never broke with this attachment.

Slightly frustrated we tossed the original batch of butter and tried again.

This time we put the whisk attachment on and turner the mixer up to high. 

After doing this, the liquid thickened within several minutes, and firmed to the consistency of frosting or whipped cream.  We thought we were doing to wrong, but continued.  Finally, it "broke" and started to separate.  At this point, put a towel OVER your mixer!  (It splashes everywhere!)

When the liquid started to separate, we used a spatula to scrape the side of the bowl and mixed it for a few more seconds and then it completely separated.  You could visibly see the butter and buttermilk separated. 

We poured the buttermilk off and put it into a mason jar for later use.  (You can keep the buttermilk in the refrigerator for 72 hours.)   

I formed the butter into a ball and squeezed the remaining buttermilk out.  (If you don't squeeze the buttermilk out of the butter then it will turn rancid within a few days.)  

In the end the butter looked like this:

If you haven't tried to make butter on your own, give it a try.  It tastes so much better then the butter you buy in the store and it is super easy to make.  If you have any questions, feel free to ask!  Laura Ingalls I will never be, but my mother's daughter and my uncle's niece?!  Making butter just sealed my fate!  

Bawk a dub-dub, chicken in the tub.....

You are going to do what to me?!  A bath?!

Today we had unseasonably warm temperatures for January, which was wonderful since I needed to "poop scoop" my yard.  I turned the hens loose for grazing and frolicking while I performed this chore, and everyone was enjoying themselves except my Americauna hen, Bluebelle.  Blue had droopy wings, and just did not feel well.  I checked her over and noticed she had what looked like blood coming from her vent and diarrhea all over her bottom.  I had never given a chicken a bath, however with some tips from the friends on the Facebook page, I decided to try it.

I first filled the bathtub up to the chest level of the hen, with luke warm water.  (I needed to make sure it was high enough to soak the debris off the feathers below the vent.)  I used a very mild Aloe and Oatmeal shampoo for cats to wash her with, figuring cats are fairly sensitive and hoping if it was safe for them it would be safe for a chicken.  (One reader suggested baby shampoo and she used it with great success, but I didn't have any of that.)  I scrubbed her up and got all of the junk off her, and then I refilled the tub and rinsed her well.  From there I put her on a towel in between my legs and dried her with my hair dryer.  This took about 20 minutes.  Then I bedded down a dog crate with towels and left her in the bathroom for several hours just to make sure she was good and dry before returning her to the coop.

This whole process went better than I thought it would, and I must say bathing a chicken was easier than bathing a dog!  I think Bluebelle might have enjoyed having a bath.  She never once flapped her wings to try to get out of the tub or get away from the hair dryer, and she was actually falling asleep towards the end of the drying.

I checked on her bum before returning her to the coop, and it actually looked a lot less irritated already.  I think some of the other hens were pecking her, which is what caused all of the blood and combined with the poop issue, it was just a mess!  I took a stool sample into the vet office to make sure she didn't have a coccidian infection, and she didn't, so I am hoping she will recover quickly.  Fingers crossed!

Shared on the following blogs: