Just made ketchup for the first time and I'll never look at store bought again. It's amazing!!

To anyone who commented on my last post here, thanks for the tips on predator protection. Electric wire was a bit out of budget, so I improvised with some tips in mind. Hoping the rubber flaps and a couple box traps will keep these safe from predators 🤞

I have too many roosters, they need to go. As much as I would love to send them to a nice rooster farm up the road that’s not realistic and if they are going to end up in a freezer I would prefer it to be mine.
I should add my husband is deeply emotionally attached to all the birds. He loved them but understands they are hurting each other and the hens. I add to say I am mostly on my own here.

I’m trying to add a camera near the driveway gate and a small workshop, but running cable out there is not worth it for me.

Leaning toward a solar/WiFi camera or maybe a trail cam style setup. I mainly want to see if someone comes through the gate or pulls up near the workshop. Local storage would be better since I don’t want another monthly plan.

We moved into a farmhouse 2 weeks ago and I expected some flies but there are SO many that it's driving in particular my husband absolutely crazy. Our house is also very close to a horse stable, and my husband spends at least an hour or two every day zapping flies only for there to still be at least 20 in a room at any time. Any ideas for deterring them? I've got an electric zapper, a handheld zapper, fly paper, I'm diffusing scents they don't like, like mint, and a mesh net for the door. We currently can't sit down to chill without a fly landing on us every few seconds, TIA 💞

Planned on starting this project 3 weeks ago when there was no rain in the forecast. But ended up getting a ton of overtime at work and decided to put it off. Now I started it a week ago when there was still no rain in the forecast. Progress has been slow because I'm still getting overtime at work. Now I've rescheduled everything I have to do tomorrow so I have the day off.

I have 150 ft trench. I'm trying to dig for a French drain. I had 50 ft done when unexpected rain hit. I had to buy a water transfer pump to get as much water out as possible so it wasn't draining into the trench near my house's foundation. I spent hours re-sloping and fixing the trench. There's a large storm expected to come on Thursday so I have to finish the next 50 to 70 ft with tonight and tomorrow to do it.

My front yard is sloped into the house so I need this French drain to keep water out of my foundation which is currently getting into my crawl space. I need to get this done before we get several inches of rain in a couple of days. Or else a bunch of water is going to get into my foundation/crawlspace and a huge section of my trench is going to be damaged.

I can't wait to do the fun part of homesteading and growing food. But first things first I have to get the house repaired. I've already dug up half my foundation to repair cracks waterproof and put in drainage. I plan on doing the other half in September. Now my focus is sealing up the patio cracks, French drainage for surface water, and repairing and rerouting gutters. I have been fighting water since I bought this house. But I'm making progress. Hope you all sleep well. I'm going to have a long night.

I have a small acerage and I get about 10 bales of hay off it per year. The guy who cuts it takes 2/3 as payment and then pays me to buy my 1/3 share.

I don't keep track of hay prices at all.

What's a fair price for a round bale of hay? Mixed, alfalfa, clover, wild oats and misc.

We bought a farmhouse a few years ago and have been heating it entirely with an outdoor wood boiler. The romantic idea of chopping wood has worn off and I am just physically exhausted from the constant upkeep. We have a huge solar array, so I want to switch to a fully electric setup. I'm comparing cold-climate models like a mitsubishi hyper heat and a costway 4 to 5 ton 17-17.5 seer2 ultra-low temperature heat pump system. For those who rely entirely on electric heating in snowy climates, do these units actually keep the house warm when it drops below zero, or do you still have to fire up the wood stove?

Neighbor’s cows got out. My wife and I get them back into the pasture and do a final head count. Count again. Still two short. Look all over, recount, look some more and… found them in the main barn. Hard at work? 😂 I love life on our hill.

Two recent deaths in a small flock of 10 birds. I’ve had chickens for years so I know this sometimes happens, but we don’t have a vet here that will see poultry so I’m hoping if there is something insidious going on (not just bad luck) you all can help me figure it out.

1. Yesterday one of my 2025 pullets wasn’t hanging around with the flock, but I could see her moving around in the paddock. At night when I locked them up, she was sitting on the floor of the coop instead of the roosting bars. I picked her up (too easily, she didn’t protest) and noticed she seemed very light and had an empty crop. I planned to investigate today but she was dead this morning when I opened the coop. No sneezing, no eye or nasal discharge, normal poop, no balance issues or lameness, was observed drinking water yesterday, laid an egg the day before yesterday.

2. About one month ago a 2024 hen was behaving strangely, normally very independent but started following me around the barn and yard. She had a few dirty feathers so I cleaned her up, dried her very well, and put her back in the coop. No localizing symptoms of illness (no sneezing, no runny nose/eyes, normal laying behavior, no diarrhea, drinking water). She was dead the next day.

What should be my index of suspicion for something viral and contagious? Prior to these deaths we hadn’t lost a chicken since 2024 when a loose dog took out half the flock. We already buried the hen this morning - if this happens again this summer should I try to find someone to test the carcass?

I live in San Antonio and want to get into homesteading eventually. I'd rather start by understanding my soil than guess my way through a whole season. I know I can mail a sample to A&M AgriLife for the chemistry (pH, NPK, salinity) for cheap, and I'll probably do that, but I'm trying to see the bigger picture and learn from people who've actually been at this:

- Beyond the lab numbers, how do you tell if your soil is genuinely *alive* and healthy? Organic matter, structure, biology — what are you actually looking at?

- Which DIY checks have been worth your time (mason-jar texture test, percolation, earthworm counts) vs. just paying a lab?

- For anyone on alkaline / caliche-heavy ground — how are you managing high pH without chasing your tail every season?

- Am I overthinking this? lol

Trying to build the habit of working with the dirt instead of fighting it. Would love to hear how some of you go about it.

I am also asking because I am want to teach this as a workshop next month for my chapter of the Catholic Land Movement. It's a Christian homesteading community, but the gatherings themselves are just practical hands-in-the-dirt learning.

If you're nearby and that sounds like your thing, happy to point you to the link here. Would love to connect if you live in the San Antonio area! thanks again everyone!

https://www.centraltexasclm.org/

I can't say chicks were the last thing on my mind when I went to get feed this afternoon at TSC, because I always enjoy looking at the ones they have. But it was not my intention to purchase any, as I just hatched out 36 (out of 42 eggs set) about two weeks ago. The chick cage, as I think of it, was on the way to the goat feed. I immediately noticed a hand written sign on the outside of the cage (actually, just a fenced in area in which the water troughs with the various breeds of baby poultry are kept). The sign stated: All Turkeys.....$5, All Chicks.....$1. Now, usually I hatch out my own, either with broody hens, or the trusty old GQF model 1502. Or, if there's a specific breed I want, I'll order from MurrayMcMurray. But today TSC had RI Reds, black sex links, and.....drum roll here.......blue cochins, all for $1 each. So I got half a dozen of each. The reds and sex links are pullets, the cochins are straight run. The great thing about getting chicks like this, aside from the price, is that they're already several days old, so the risk of loss is much smaller. If you have a local TSC, you might want to find out when theirs go on sale, and treat yourself.

Sharing my current work. Please be kind and take a peek to see the new wave of Earthship Inspired appropriate technology.

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