Homestead Security

Gun control is a huge topic right now because of the awful massacre of children, teachers and school administrators at Sandy Hook Elementary. The topic has been brewing in the public domain for awhile because mass shootings are on the rise in America. General craziness is on the rise in America too. People seem to be more pessimistic, paranoid, violent & irrational. Right now we have a situation with a "doomsday prepper" who has kidnapped a 5 year old boy from a school bus in which he shot the driver and took the boy. It is day 3 of the stand off between him and law enforcement and supposedly, the boy is still alive but I am sure he is forever traumatized. We also had a school shooting today in Atlanta and details are just emerging.

Everyone wants to blame someone or something for these tragedies. It must be the NRA, assault rifles, Obama, Bush, video games, movies, TV, the media, the conspiracy theorists, ADHD, Asperger's, psychiatric meds, depleted foods & health, etc. etc. Everyone wants to do something to stop it. We must have armed guards at school, on buses, background checks on everyone, doctors questioning patients about guns, assault rifle bans, ammunition clip bans, swat teams in every town, and so on. It's a sad predicament we face as a nation, as a parent, as a teacher, as a young person trying to grow up and understand this world. How do you protect innocent lives from someone hell-bent on destroying them?

One thing I clearly want to express is that I hate violence. I loath confrontation on a physical plane. I would much rather be intellectually or artistically challenged than physically challenged by some nut. I wish we could all live in a world of peace and love. If only everyone felt the same way, if they could be tolerant of differences in others and embraced life without jealousy, anger and stupidity we might make it happen. Since that is not the world we currently face, it is imperative for peace loving people to try not to make themselves a target for violence. Living in the backwoods is very peaceful but it is also a bit scary. What if nobody could hear me scream, what if it takes the police 30-45 minutes to get here if they did find out I needed help? What if I am a target because I live in such a remote location. These are all things that one must consider when choosing to live in a place like I do.

In addition to people who want to start violent confrontations, there are those that just want to rob you so they can get their fix. We call these unfortunate souls "pillbillies" in my neck of the woods. They are so addicted to their drugs that they will risk electrocution by stealing electrical lines right off the pole. When we first bought our homestead, there was no plumbing hooked up. We thought it was because it was winter and the previous owner didn't want the pipes to freeze. After we bought it, we discovered that someone had robbed all the copper pipes right out from under it. They also took the grounding rods on the telephone polls. Days later, we discovered it was a popular drinking spot for some questionable folks so we installed a gate across the access road. The first year we owned the place, we only came on the weekends so we installed some video surveillance and alarm system after we were told a local pillbilly had been caught trying to look in our windows.

My point is, some people need more than 911 for protection. Some people are at greater risk of confrontation and can't depend on the small local police department when they live so far from it. For these reasons, you have to plan accordingly how you will protect yourself on your own. There are numerous methods and devices available. You have to go with what you are comfortable with and consider the ramifications if you actually had to use it. It is imperative that you consider your family situation, mental and physical abilities and what you are willing to do when faced with the worst situation. You also need to practice what you are going to do. There is nothing wrong with being a prepper! You should be prepared because you can't depend on others to come to your rescue, even though there still are lots of good people  in this world that do it every single day. My background in emergency response and environmental health and safety has given me the privilege of meeting those that put their life on the line every day for the safety and security of those they have never met. I have great respect for those people. I can tell you that they practice a lot and that is how they are able to handle themselves in difficult and/or tragic situation. You also need to know and practice what you would do if things did not go the way you planned. If one of your family  members or friends was stabbed or shot, do you know what to do. If you are 30 minutes away from EMS, that means the victim is an hour away from a hospital. You have to know how to control bleeding and deal with sucking chest wounds if you expect to keep them alive. At the very least, know CPR and first aid. You or someone you know are much more likely to die from a heart attack than to be shot anyway! It amazes me how many people are scared of taking my CPR, AED, First Aid class because they think it makes them liable to help anyone. Check your own state laws but here in Kentucky, we have the Good Samaritan law that will protect you from any lawsuit as long as you act in good faith. You also need to form an alliance with your neighbors if possible. You can't always be home but they watch your back while you watch theirs.

I have respect for those that say we need to do something because they are right! What I don't have are the answers to what will work in this complicated world of conflicts. The best thing we can do is protect ourselves within our ability, spread love and peace, teach our children what is right and wrong and participate in our democracy that so many brave people sacrificed their lives and families for us to have.

Cooling off the Cabin Fever

Hiking around the backyard

My family from left to right, Dylan, Jason, Me, Aaron

Frozen Little Laurel Falls

Dylan is almost 6 ft tall but he looks small in this picture

Icicles everywhere!

Cool ice formation on this rock

My boys and their friend, throwing rocks at ice of course!

The weather finally warmed up enough to get outside for awhile. We have had several days of frigid weather and we were getting tired of being inside all day. We are naturally outdoor type people and it is hard to get through the winter months, not just because it is cold but because it gets dark early too. We hiked around the backyard woods and looked at all the cool icicles and frozen waterfalls. I say backyard like I have some ownership but it really belongs to everyone. It is the Daniel Boone National Forest and our backyard backs up to it. It makes it seem like we have an endless yard to explore right outside our backdoor! There are lots of rock shelters, little caves, overhangs and big boulders in the area. There is also some pretty cool rock climbing routes. One of the overhangs used to be the site of a moonshine still and you can still find a few canning jar lids if you know where to look. The hiking around here is not like your typical state park maintained trail. You have to work your way through some prickly briers and climb up and over rocks and downed trees. There are a lot of leaves on the ground so you have to be careful not to step in a big hole. Steep drop offs and cliffs keep you on your toes. Most of the time you are going up a hill or down a hill and some areas are pretty slick so you have to walk slow and sideways in some areas. In the winter, you have an added worry of huge icicles that could potential fall from high above and stab or crush you. It may sound dangerous but it is worth it all. The clean air, the beauty and diversity of the forest and rocks, the exercise you get without even thinking about it, make it an amazing experience for everyone who comes here.

Roosters, Rats & Bobcats, Oh My!

It took us awhile to figure it out but out of the 12 chicks we raised, 3 were roosters, possibly 4. Having this many roosters is just not possible. They were starting to fight and try to kill each other. They were also driving the hens a little crazy. We knew what we had to do but had never culled chickens before. My husband had a good friend who wasn't afraid of the procedure come over and help him. His friend went to get the roosters that were going to be culled. There were 4 of the Plymouth rocks and we thought one was a hen. The largest rooster we decided to keep for protection for the hens. The friend grabbed what he thought was the other two roosters and hung them upside down. They slit the throats and drained them. Then they put them in a large pot of boiling water and removed the feathers and insides. They bagged them up and put them in the frig. My husband then went to check on the chickens and discovered two roosters in the pin. Apparently, either the friend picked up the female Plymouth rock and they accidentally killed her or we were wrong and she was a he. Anyway, now they had to kill another rooster! We are down to 8 hens and 1 very large crazy rooster that is not afraid to take on humans. We have to walk around with a rake if he is out of the pen or he will try to attack us. He likes to start his cockadoodling at about 4:30am. I am a light sleeper and it has taken me a long time to get used to it but I think I finally have. Other than that, we are glad to have him because we think he scares off would be predators with his loud sounds and disposition. The hens don't seem to mind him either. Lately we have discovered that rats are not afraid of him and apparently they are really good at sneaking in the coop to steal food at night without waking him up. Even though we buried hard wire all around the coop at least a foot deep, they have burrowed a hole deeper than that and dug a tunnel into the coop. I have been trying to research ways to get rid of them without possible poisoning the chickens. So far, they have outsmarted our traps. We picked up a homeless kitten on Halloween (named Kit-Kat) that we hope will start catching and killing them. Right now, the rats are probably bigger than the cat.

One morning in the fall we woke to find the male duck missing. Later, our dog Marley came out of the woods carrying the head of the duck. My husband walked into the woods and found the rest of the duck body. It was decapitated with its breast meat removed. Whatever got the duck had to have climbed or jumped over a 4 foot fence, got the duck in its mouth and then jumped back over the fence with the duck to go kill it in the woods. I can imagine all the commotion woke up the rooster. The female duck spent the rest of her days pretty distraught and you could tell she missed her companion. We had to lock her in her Quack House at night so that whatever it was did not come back for her. We discovered some claw marks on the gate and coop and believe it may have been a bobcat. As time went on, we decided the best thing to do would be to cull the leftover duck. She was becoming a burden to put away every night and we had to leave her in there for a few days when we left town for the weekend. We were excited to eat the duck meat but after researching and following what seemed like a great recipe for pan-seared duck, it turned out to be awful. The meat was extremely tough and chewy. I had always heard that duck was really fatty but this duck had no fat on it. That may have been why it didn't turn out to well. We have decided not to have ducks anymore. They are cute but they make a huge mess and they stink really bad. You have to change their pool water all the time because it starts stinking and attracting flies. The algae is also a pain to clean. It just doesn't seem worth it to us. It's all part of the learning process!

Greenhouse Project

Site Leveling

Foundation

Retaining wall

Framing

Greenhouse!

Lights!

Cold tolerant greens & broccoli

We decided that a greenhouse would be crucial to getting a head start on our garden and extending the season. When I lost all of my tomato seedlings (over 100) last spring to the late frost, I was determined to not let it happen again. We knew that there would be a light frost and had been covering our seedlings in small tunnels constructed of flexible pipe, rebar and row cover material. The frost ended up being much worse than the weather station had predicted. I had to start seeds all over again. To go and buy 100 tomato seedlings would have been too expensive. This created a late start on our tomatoes so we didn't harvest as many as we could have if our first plants had survived the frost. I was lucky enough to get free windows from a dorm building that was being remodeled on the campus where I work. Once we had the window dimensions, we drew several plans for the greenhouse. I also wanted to use my old sink that my husband got me for my birthday in the project. We decided that half the building could be a greenhouse and the other half could be an outdoor kitchen for washing & cleaning vegetables from the garden. We also planned that it would be used to do some canning in the fall and as an entertainment area for cookouts and get-togethers.

The biggest obstacle was finding a level location that was close to the garden. We soon realized that we would have to make the area level. Living on this ridge, our entire yard is on a hill. We decided to get some cheap landscape timbers and use them to create a level spot for the greenhouse. I wish we could have used something that would last longer but we were working on a tight budget. We borrowed a tractor from a friend and my husband leveled out the spot. Then we had a load of gravel delivered for the foundation. Since my husband had been involved in alot of construction projects for the highway department that involved site leveling, he was able to create this nice pad for the greenhouse. Getting the base ready and putting in the foundation of 4x6's in probably took the longest. Once that was complete the framing and addition of the pine boards went quickly. Originally we had planned to use the windows for the roof too but we soon realized that it would be extremely heavy and impracticable so we decided to use clear plastic roofing material from Lowe's. For ventilation, we installed a 24 inch fan, thermostat and automatic vent. We found a nice door at the peddler mall for $35 and installed that on the front. We then realized that the pine boards did not hold in much heat so we added some foil insulation inside between the framing. We have a small space heater in there for the days when it gets really cold but the greenhouse is able to keep the temperature anywhere from 20-40 degrees higher than it is outside. I have all my houseplants and some herb garden transplants in there. I also started some seeds that I ordered from Johnny's Select Seeds. There are several varieties of lettuce and other salad greens, broccoli, chives, green onions, radishes, spinach, garlic and carrots. They were growing very slowly, so we decided to supplement the diminishing winter light with a couple of fluorescent lights and one high pressure sodium light. It seems to have helped a lot since we did that although one of the fluorescent lights has quit working. I think the humid environment ruined the ballast. I looked at a few greenhouse lights on the Internet but they are pretty expensive. Since the darkest days have passed and winter soltice is behind us, I think I will wait until next year to worry about purchasing a light.

I am probably the only person in Kentucky who decorated their greenhouse for Christmas. I had collected a lot of Christmas decorations when we lived in our much larger house but since we moved to this place, I am limited on what I can put up. So I decided that I would decorate the greenhouse. It looked awesome, unfortunately, very few people visit us so I didn't get to really show it off! Maybe next year!

I am counting down the days until I can start seeds for the garden summer crop in there. I am happy to know that I won't be losing all my tomato seedlings this year to frost. I definitely have a great start on my crop for the spring this year.

Composting

I have been reading about problems with contaminated compost. It seems that organic gardeners have been duped in many cases by buying compost that is contaminated with persistent herbicides. When this compost is applied to the garden, it kills your plants or stunts their growth and ruins their ability to bear fruit. These herbicides are manufactured to remain in the environment for years after application and they even pass through the digestive tract of horses, cows, goats and other animals and come out in their poop. When that poop is aged into compost, the herbicide is still there and ready to do its dirty work in your organic garden. So even gardeners who get compost from a local farmer rather than a bag at Lowe's may be getting this poison that will persist in their garden for years. At the beginning of last summer, my husband built this compost bin pictured above out of pine boards that we got from a friend who owns a cabinet company in Louisville. He has stacks and stacks of these boards so we will able to purchase them really cheap. They are great for projects like this, the chicken coop and the greenhouse. The garden provides a lot of leftover material that is great for composting. We also feed a lot of the garden and kitchen leftovers to the chickens. When we clean out their bedding, we add that to the compost bin and will be able to use it next year to fertilize the garden. We have a stainless steel compost container with a lid that I keep in the kitchen to collect produce waste, coffee grounds and egg shells. When it gets full, we take it out and add it to the green tumble composter. I bought this composter at Costco last year. It does the job quickly but it has some problems. Somehow, water is trapped inside the walls of it and some of the hinges are rusting already, even though I have only had it for about of year and followed the directions on assembly. Costco is one of my favorite stores and I really like their return policy. If you buy something there and you are not completely satisfied with it, you can return it anytime. If Costco comes up with a better designed composter this spring, I will probably clean this one up and return it.
All the organic gardening books and magazines emphasize the importance of adding compost to the garden before planting in the spring and then throughout the growing season as a side dressing. This adds vital nutrients to the soil and improves soil fertility and moisture retention. It also reduces the chance of diseases and pests overtaking the plants. I used compost liberally last growing season but I still had problems with pests and diseases. My cucumbers started growing strong and then suddenly, they all turned yellow and died. I couldn't figure out why but after reading the articles about contaminated compost, I worry that the bags of compost that we purchased from Lowe's may have had the herbicides in them. There is no way of knowing without ordering expensive tests. Even the compost industry does not test for it because they haven't established a threshold value and preliminary results from laboratory tests say that even non-detectable amounts can cause plant death. I wish I would have had enough of my own homemade compost last year so that I would not have bought that. I am thinking about planting a different crop in that area to see if it dies this year. If it doesn't, then I can assume that it was probably something else that killed all my cucumbers.
I can only hope that people become more aware of this problem and the persistent herbicides causing the problem are banned. In the meantime, I will make my own compost.
I just ordered a new book that I am looking forward to reading. It is "The Intelligent Gardener: Growing Nutrient Dense Food" by Steve Solomon. The preview says that he explains that if you want your food to be nutrient dense, just adding compost or NPK will not provide it. You have to analyze your soil and add other organic amendments such as magnesium, calcium and other trace elements. I will review the book on my blog and let you know how I plan to incorporate what I found to this years crop.

Beneficial Insects

The organic gardening books say to use beneficial insects to control unwanted insects in the garden. I ordered some ladybugs and 2 praying mantis cocoons from a company called Hirt's through Amazon.com. The items arrived quickly. The ladybugs were kept cold through the mail and the instructions said to keep them refrigerated until you were ready to release them. It also said you could spray some sugar water on them when you release them and they would not be able to fly away for a few days so they would get used to the garden. I decided to release all 200 of them at once. They quickly left the mesh bag as soon as they warmed up and seemed to spread thoughout the garden nicely. The praying mantis cocoons were to be attached to a stick or board and left off the ground in the garden until they hatched. I attached them to an old fence board and leaned them against the strawberry patch raised garden bed wall. I checked them every few days but never got a glimpse of them leaving the cocoon. A few weeks went by and I would see tiny praying mantis on the garden plants and a few ladybugs here and there. It was hardly enough to wipe out the number of unwanted insects that had started showing up in the garden including aphids and whiteflies. I probably saw more ladybugs in the barn than in the garden. Since our homestead is in the National Forest, I think we probably donated a good number of our beneficial insects to it. Anyway, I am sure they helped some and it was nice to know we tried our best to introduce them to the garden. Hopefully, some of them did stick around and will provide a bigger population for us in the coming year!

Harvest Outcomes

The garden kept me really busy throughout spring, summer and fall but the harvest was worth the time spent tending all those plants. Every week we could fill two of these white containers to the rim with fresh vegetables. There is nothing more satisfying than growing your own food, knowing where it came from and that it was produced organically with lots of TLC makes a big difference. It gives you respect for what nature can do and forces you to want to be frugal with everything you grow. Using all parts, or at least, recycling back into compost for next years harvest is a sustainable practice and brings the gardening experience full circle. Although our harvest was great, I think it could have been better. We had a few problems with disease and pests on the cucumbers, squash and tomatoes. We had slugs eat most of the strawberries. The March tornado took out some of the corn plants. A late spring frost killed most of my tomato transplants so I had to start over from seed in early summer. In the next few blogs, I will explain what happened and how we tried to remedy the problems or what we plan to do different this coming season. We had great luck with the peppers, watermelons, berries, herbs and pole beans. The end of the summer is of course, the busiest time. We canned several jars of tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, peppers, corn and beans.We also froze squash, peppers and green beans. We found out that chickens love watermelons and pumpkins so we feed them our surplus. More lessons learned on the chickens and ducks to follow. It's late January and we have had temperatures in the single digits with freezing rain and ice. The dark days are getting to me and I have turned to my Mother Earth News magazines and gardening books for comfort. I am happy to say that I now have a beautiful greenhouse where I am currently growing several cold crops for early spring and I love to go out there and do a little winter gardening. I will go over the greenhouse construction and future plans for it in another posts as well. So much has happened since my last blog entry that there is no way to update it all in one post. Over the next few weeks, I will play catch-up on my blog and do some planning for this years garden. I will also be discussing some issues near and dear to my heart including persistent herbicides infecting compost that are killing organic farms and gardens, GMO's, factory farming, vaccines, auto-immune disorders and endocrine disruptor's, chem trails and gun control. Stay tuned!