(Part 2) Best products from r/homestead

I have yet to produce livestock for slaughter on my own homestead but have been involved for several years at family livestock slaughterings. I have been building up my tools over the years and here is a quick list of items that save quite a bit of time.

• Plastic folding table(s) - We typically use 2-3 tables and they are the 3'x6' and 3'x8' kind.
  
  
• Plastic sheeting - We wrap all of the tables and equipment that can be wrapped in it to provide more sanitary conditions and quicker cleanup.
  
  
• Good Knives and a Knife Steel - a good set can be purchased from Amazon. I use these KNIVES
  
  
• Vacuum sealer - We use this instead of paper these days. Much better lifetime on the meat we have found.
  
  
• Sharpies - having a quick way to write on the bag so you can later identify when the animal was butchered and which animal it was incase you have an issue come up.
  
  
• HDPE Cutting boards - We use a ton of these, if you are lucky you can find them cheap as surplus from local or state government institutions.
  
  
• People to help - We have all sorts of people involved. Catchers, Killers, Cutters, Baggers, Taggers, movers. There are many tasks when butchering, yes you can do it yourself, however more hands make quicker work(when they know what they are doing).
  
  
• Coolers and Ice - Putting 50lbs+ of warm meet in the freezer is a good way for it to get freezer burn as it doesn't freeze fast enough. Have coolers of ice ready to keep the meat cold and get it colder ready to go into the freezer.
  
  
• A deep freezer - make sure to have room. It is no good to spend a bunch of time butchering and then realize you don't have enough space to store it.
  
  
• A good Grinder is essential if you are wanting to get the best yield out of your animal. Sausage and burger are great ways to increase the yield if you are an inexperienced cutter.
  
  
• A smoker to cure your sausage, hams, bacon, pepperoni and other smoked meets. I make several pounds of jerky a year and it is always a huge hit with friends and family. I bought the smoker for salmon and have used it for every family gathering since. I even cooked my wedding brisket in it.
  
  
• Nitrile gloves - Buy a box of each size and keep them with your supplies. This makes things much more sanitary as it is easier to put on a new pair of gloves between touching meat and other activities. Also make sure to have a good supply of hot water and soap. We do a mandatory hand wash between each animal and wipe down the equipment as well.
  
  
• Plastic tubs and trays for moving the meat around. We use plywood trays after the meat is packaged as they are cheaper and not as big of a problem at that point. I have been buying these over time for my homestead and that is how my family did it as well. We started with a few and now have enough for all that we need and it helps to keep the line going.
  
  
• Bone saw and Cleaver - you will need to have these if you are processing larger stock.
  
  
• Gambrel and hoist - If you are slaughtering an animal over 100lbs you will want to have a sturdy hoist and gambrel setup to make the initial gutting, skinning, and hanging easier. We have both commercial ones and homebuilt gambrels. When I butchered with my family we did it at my uncles house, and he had a rail system like a commercial shop with a walk in cooler.
  
  
  

Sage is another good one to try. Mint is easy to grow (sometimes too easy; it should only ever be planted in a container). Basil is nice to have around, too; however, it's an annual and will have to be replaced every year. Cilantro (another annual) can be picky about the growing conditions (it likes it really cool and mild), but it's worth a shot if you like the flavor. I'm not sure how well it would do in a container, but I've had good luck growing fennel, too. I've never grown them myself, but I also see a lot of marjoram, terragon, lavender, chives, and lemongrass in containers.

Depending on your climate, a common problem with potted plants is drying out too fast or getting too much heat. There are a few options to reduce this if you find it's a problem for you:

• Check the soil moisture frequently (but beware of overwatering, especially the thyme).
  
• Keep a dish under the pot, and water until it drains into the dish. (This also helps reduce buildup of excess minerals in the potting mix.)
  
• Use larger pots rather than smaller pots.
  
• Use a thick and/or light-colored container.
  
• Keep the pot in shade (albeit without denying sun to the leaves). I find that morning sun and afternoon shade can be a good compromise in hot, sunny weather.
  
• Avoid overcrowding of the roots (e.g., divide the herbs as they get bigger, or transplant them into a larger pot).
  
• Insulate the pot if necessary (e.g., wrap it or partially bury it in the ground).
  
• Mix in a soil additive that improves absorbency, such as perlite.
  
  Some of these can help keep the roots protected when it freezes, too. The roots are the heart of your plants, and you want them to be in as stable and healthy an environment as possible, as if they were growing in the ground.
  
  Another common problem is fertilizing. Specifically, over-fertilizing. It can be difficult to get the right amount of nutrients in a container, since the excess doesn't get rained away, and the roots can't grow out and find more nutrients if they run out. You'll want to err on the side of fertilizing too little rather than fertilizing too much.
  
  Oregano, rosemary, and thyme are quite hardy plants that shouldn't need much in the way of fertilizer. If it were me, I'd probably wait a year before fertilizing them for the first time, unless they show signs of deficiency (e.g., leaves turning yellow or purple) before then. In all likelihood, your potting mix already has fertilizer in it, and that should last you a while.
  
  When selecting a fertilizer, make sure you choose one that's easy and convenient to use (e.g., you might not want one that must be applied weekly or every time you water). Make sure it has directions for container plants, and follow those directions closely (again, err on the side of fertilizing too little, not too much). And select one that is rated for herbs or foliage plants; you don't want one that's primarily intended for flowering or fruiting, because they will give your plants too much phosphorus.
  
  By the way, as far as watering goes, this is my hands-down favorite watering can for containers. It's easy to control where the water goes. (You don't want much water on the leaves; just water the soil directly.)
  
  *Some leaf discoloration is normal when the weather gets cold, or when a leaf ages and dies. If the weather is warm and pleasant, and if the affected leaves are new or in their prime, that's* when you should be concerned. If you're not sure, try posting a photo on Reddit and asking for advice.

Again, great questions. Here's a video I did on hugelkultur a bit ago. I don't recommend going to my website at the moment though because it's been recently hacked and I'm working on cleaning it up. The youtube video will be fine though. Check out that video, if you have more questions, feel free to ask.

You can do the flat raised bed idea, and I did the same last year, but I believe you will get more benefit from doing the piqued hills.

Grey water collection and rainwater harvesting are excellent ideas. I don't know if you could make use of it, but here is a super cool idea for a ram pump which requires no external input other than elevation change. Other than that, I don't know much about water tanks.

One really cool thing I've seen used is where people dig a trench under their garden and bury weeping tile in that trench which snakes around their garden. Then they connect that weeping tile to their downspout from there gutters and when it rains, they get a massive deep soak in their garden.

Swales are a fantastic thing to think about as they will help keep water on your land. Swales mixed with heavy mulching are a huge force in keeping your land irrigated. Check out greening the desert for more on that.

As for the PDC, you don't even have to pay for it. I googled free online PDC and found this.

http://www.permaculturedesigntraining.com/

If you want to learn more about it, there are amazing books which can help.

Gaia's Garden and Sepp Holzer's Permaculture

That's awesome that your SO is taking that course. She'll probably learn some really cool sustainable farming things.

Also, check out http://www.permies.com. There's tons of info there, and super amazing people who are very helpful.

Hi there. A great book for you would be Backyard Farming on an Acre. I haven't read the newer version but I'm sure it's just as wonderful. It has everything: ways to organize your layout, greenhouses, chickens, bees, etc. This will get you started and point you in the right direction for further research.

There's so much great literature out there on chickens that I won't bother listing a book, but chickens are so easy that you almost don't need one. And they are great for clearing weed seeds and pests. If you're in a hot climate I can personally recommend the Minorca breed! You can expect 1 egg a day for egg-laying breeds for most of the first year. They will slowly decline to about half that production until they are about 3 years old. As they get older their egg production plummets.

As for beekeeping, I can personally recommend Warre Hives. There's only this one good book that I know of from the wonderful people at Beethinking. Warre himself wrote a book but it's a lot of boring research. Anyway, Warre hives are lowest-maintenance and don't require any fiddling or constant checking and adding of top bars. They're supposed to be better for the bees, too.

On the fish front, I've heard good things about /r/aquaponics. That's about all I know.

One acre is supposed to feed 10 people on average, so 1/3 of an acre should meet your goal, especially if you're more "intensive," using companion planting methods, and creatively squeezing crops into every small space.

Good luck!

EDIT: fixed Amazon link.

Depends on the weather, though we'd keep all windows closed for the entire winter as they were a pain to open. If it was below freezing or there was a chance for it to get very cold at night, we'd keep them in and close all doors. We'd also fork some bedding infront of the doors to try and eliminate the draft at the bottom. During the day we'd keep the south facing door open as there was less wind coming from that end. If it was a bright sunny day, we'd open both doors to try and encourage them to get out a bit.

I wouldn't clean out the barn as much as I would in summer. It may sound gross, but the bedpack builds up a little heat as it decomposes. I'd put down a layer of fresh bedding as needed to keep the girls clean though.

If you get below freezing temps regularly in winter, you are probably going to want a water heater for their water dish. This is probably the biggest can of worms, because they sell a few different varieties and you want to get one that fits your size water tub. If you have a 25-50 gal tub, you can get away with a backyard pond heater. I recommend getting one that doesn't have exposed coils, especially if you have playful goats. Something like this I found worked best for me. You want to make sure there are no exposed chords for them to chew on though. Take a piece of hose or pvc pipe and slip it over any wires that might be exposed. You'll probably need outdoor rated extension cords as well, which you'll want to make sure are positioned in such a way that the female end wont collect water. I always taped the connections with electrical tape to be sure.

In terms of the animals themselves dealing with the cold, they will most likely be okay. If you have some older girls or drama queens (ahem, nubians) you may want to invest in a couple coats, but they probably wont need it as they will grow in a winter coat themselves. It's fun in spring when they shed these little tufts of fluff that look like cotton. In fact, it's great to get them out in the sun even if it's a little chilly, as being in close contact 24/7 increases transmission of diseases like ringworm, orf, parasites, etc.

Sounds like you have some fantastic goals to get you going. A lot of others here have offered great advice too.

If you are in the U.S. I'll happily share some heirloom seeds that I have extras of to assist with planning your garden for Spring. If that interests you, please PM me and let me know what gardening zone you are in. I have lots of seeds to share that are suited for many climate zones.

Some general suggestions I have that you might consider include-

• Plan the construction of a smoke house for meat preservation.
  
  
• Start studying seed saving. If you choose to use heirloom seeds for your gardens, winter is a great time to read up on how to harvest seeds for future gardening endeavors. Here are a few resources-
  
  

• This is a great beginners guide that can be printed out for free as a handbook
  
  http://howtosaveseeds.com
  
  
• One of my favorite books on the subject
  
  http://www.amazon.com/Seed-Growing-Techniques-Vegetable-Gardeners/dp/1882424581
  
  

• Start experimenting with canning, fermenting, jam/ jelly, winemaking (if you drink), and other various methods of food preserving.
  
  
• Make a list of your hobbies. What things do you love to do? What crafts to you make? Is there a way that you could create part time work from these things on your list?
  
  
• Begin spending time at local farmers markets (if you don't already). If farmers markets are seasonal where you are, start mapping them out. IMO local farmers markets are such an amazing hub of community, information, advice and so much more. When you involve yourself with other locals in your area doing similar things, amazing connections can be made.
  
  
• Get to know your local County Agricultural Extension Office. Every state in the U.S. has at least one. They offer so many amazing free resources and many classes. Almost all have Master Gardeners programs, offer soil testing, have demonstration gardens, sell seeds bred for your locality, offer plant pest ID, printed information and more.
  

It is a little unusual for the whole flock to wait two weeks. But, Ive definitely had individual birds wait that long.

With the rain it sounds like they just arent getting enough sunlight. Like others have suggested you can put a light in and keep it on for 14 hours a stretch. I would leave the tarp up. Im in Texas so we dont get as much rain but even here if it rains it makes the hens....pissy...and they dont lay for me either those days :P To be honest unless you need the eggs right now I would just wait for the rain to pass and let them get used to the weather where they live.

But you know this is where animal husbandry kinda gets more into the art instead of the science. Everybody has to decide whats the best for their chickens in their yard given the information. Like, these are things that work for me but see in Florida you may never get a time when the rain lets up and so it would make sense to have a light in the coop. You can always try it. (of course be careful with electricity and rain)

If youre letting them into your yard, on top of feeding them chicken feed, they are most likely getting all the nutrients they need.

Yeah I would put some boxes in their coop. Ideally you want them so you can access them from the outside. The first coop I built I didnt do that and most of the hens figured out on like the second day where to lay so I had to crawl in to get the eggs.

It sounds like youre taking really good care of your chickens. Really I wouldnt worry too much right now.

One of the books that I got when I first got started is this one. It was just technical enough and just common sense enough to get me going. Of course this is a really good subreddit too!

I am relatively new to this subject and these books have been useful for me:

The Urban Homestead A good introductory book that touches on a lot of relevant topics.

Gaia's Garden This is not specifically a homesteading book but it is a very useful book for growing food and learning about small scale permacultural design.

Four Season Harvest Another useful book for growing, especially for those of us in cold climates.

Country Wisdom & Know How A fun reference for many homestead topics.

Since you don't eat meat, unless these are Angora rabbits they'd just be pets.

If they're not useful, you should probably find somewhere else for them to live. While their poop is nutrient rich, so is hen poop.
Do you eat eggs?

Highly recommend you get this book if you're going to keep them. Best time to read up on livestock is before you get any, but we have to deal with the situation at hand.

But first - do you want two pet rabbits?
Do you have housing for them? Will it protect them from the elements and predators? Can you keep them separated? (they usually don't do well sharing one hutch) What are their genders?

Also, why would someone just give up two rabbits? Were they Easter Presents or what?

If you really want to take a deep dive into growing grains to feed livestock on a small scale I would recommend giving Small-Scale Grain Raising by Gene Logsdon a read. It is honestly more entertaining than any book about growing barley should be.

https://www.amazon.com/Small-Scale-Grain-Raising-Processing-Nutritious/dp/1603580778/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482955677&sr=8-1&keywords=small+scale+grain+raising

I'm a bit of a generalist. I always have lots of projects going on at once, each in a different state of completion. The books I have listed I do own, and read and pick through the most often.

The first two are generalist books. I say that because they both have such a breadth of information it's hard to describe them. The third is more specialist in that it covers only a single subject, but does so in such detail and in a recipe type format that it's easy to follow along. It starts with how to build a blacksmith shop, what tools you need, and how to use tools you make to build bigger tools to help build other, bigger tools.

https://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Country-Living-40th-Anniversary/dp/1570618402

https://www.amazon.com/Self-Sufficient-Life-How-Live/dp/0756654505/ref=pd_sim_14_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=FR7BRBKJ9CA3XRWW1N8H

https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Modern-Blacksmith-Alexander-Weygers/dp/0898158966/ref=sr_1_15?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1473081102&sr=1-15&keywords=blacksmithing

I'd recommend reading The Market Gardner by JM Fortier because I'd imagine your climate is similar to theirs. It's a micro garden on 1.5 acres on a 10 acre property. They generate about 80k a year through CSA farm shares and farmers markets. If you have a local market that is not saturated you could definitely generate income with your short growing season and become fully self sufficient.

If you’re growing the right crops and doing high efficiency things like potato towers, yeah, that’s about what you need. Here’s a great book. A bit more focused on farming vs homesteading, but the methods carry over.

https://www.amazon.com/Market-Gardener-Successful-Handbook-Small-scale/dp/0865717656

I'd recommend a steam juicer. I love mine and it gives me the clearest, most tasty juice for my jelly.

Here. Save yourself the money and effort. These are the beads in which are used in diapers :)


https://www.amazon.com/Science-Gone-Fun-Educational-Products/dp/B00HS9GWJO/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=diaper+polymer&qid=1570128291&sr=8-5

I am loving this fork enough to want to share. I have moved a LOT of horse manure, compost and wood mulch. I have used spades, shovels and scoops. They work but its slow going: the problem is the blunt end smacks into the pile and prevents you from getting a good scoop of material. You have to shimmy it to try to get material on there. This fork however, pierces right through into any pile. So much less effort! Similar fork on Amazon (non-ref)

Found this in some more browsing on Amazon. I am only about 50 pages in, but enjoying it so far...
http://www.amazon.com/Good-Life-Nearings-Self-Sufficient-Living/dp/0805209700

Alone in the Wilderness: https://youtu.be/ShLLp94RZMY

Accompanying Book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0882405136/ref=pd_aw_sim_74_2/168-8232578-2674509?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=JF37GEHWS34EEPZW9DCF

Multiple Alaskan Homesteads, the user who posted this video was apart of one of these families before leaving for civilization: https://youtu.be/UlPzlmqp7tI

A documentary by VICE that is dedicated to the Korth family, seen in the above video: https://youtu.be/Iq0rZn8HFmQ

Book about the Korth family from the previous two links: https://www.amazon.com/Final-Frontiersman-Family-Alaskas-Wilderness/dp/074345314X

Those last two are the most interesting, because the Korths are the only human residents of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, so they are basically the only residents of an area as large as the state of South Carolina, which is something I can relate to since I grew up in SC....basically the Korths are the most badass homesteaders alive; SC is pretty fucking big.

EDIT: Well I read that wrong, I thought you wanted documentaries to watch.....well if you have money for the plane ticket and the time you could try and meet one of them, but again the third link is from one of the members from one of those families except he's "civilized" so try and message him on YouTube.

A great book is Storey's Guide to Raising Rabbits

https://www.amazon.com/Storeys-Guide-Raising-Rabbits-4th/dp/1603424563

Country Wisdom and Knowhow....http://www.amazon.com/Country-Know-How-Editors-Publishings-Bulletins/dp/B001RTS91U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319034333&sr=8-1

500 pages and they pack a lot onto every page!

[Here are the sleeves I'm looking at.](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005H7F0RY/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_FOpDDb36Q1CA3]( https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005H7F0RY/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_FOpDDb36Q1CA3)

A helpful suggestion or request can't hurt.

If you have not gotten it.. i HIGHLY recommend the BALL book of canning.

​

https://www.amazon.com/All-Ball-Book-Canning-Preserving/dp/0848746783

​

Are we talking about this guy or something like it?

Back to Basics A12 Aluminum Steam Juicer

Juicing grapes may be effective, which I've done, but I'm thoroughly disappointed with apples, for example. Apples simply don't appear to render as much juice and much of the flesh doesn't deteriorate like other fruits. If there's a secret to steam juicing apples, I'd love to hear about it. Otherwise, I'm going to stick to mechanical grinding and/or pressing.

I read this book on Richard Proenneke a few years ago, and it's a really worthwhile read.

I've heard great things about this one, but haven't purchased it for myself yet. It's one of those old-school "pass thing down the way they used to do them" books. http://amzn.com/1570618402

We were 30 when we started.

The Nearings were in there 40s and 50s when they started in Vermont, without the advantages (?) of modern tools. the good life is their books about it. They restarted in Maine when Scott was in his 70s or so.

You will never regret buying this book. Your library may have it also.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1603424695?pc_redir=1398414170&robot_redir=1

This is it.

Carla Emory's Encyclopedia of Country Living.

A little bit of everything.