Episode-1499- Getting Ready for Spring 2015
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We often tend to loose sight of the fact that a season is only about 90 days time.
Spring? Did that moron Jack say spring? Has he gone daft? Doesn’t he know that it is below zero in much of the nation. Hasn’t he seen the big white piles of “global warming” all over the country? Spring, really this moron speaks of spring? Pipes are frozen and broken, the dog won’t go outside to pee and another arctic blast is descending upon us from Canada and this dolt, speaks of chirping birds and budding trees?
Now hold on, the first day of spring is officially March 21st, that is the spring equinox. Today is Jan. 15th, which means that day is only 67 days away. To put that in perspective, remember how we just went from Halloween to Christmas so fast, well that duration of days comes out to 76 days. Remember how fast that seemed to happen? The point is simply wen you get down to about two months, time goes faster then you’d expect.
Join Me Today to Discuss…
- Now is the time to reflect on the past and plan for the future
- Make a list of everything you want to do and a cost estimate of same
- Look at your list and set priorities on wants, needs and expense
- Consider using excel and sorting based on value of the three
- Some major considerations
- Average last frost dates
- What are you planting
- When does heat become a problem (man, beast, plant)
- Are you staying or going (residence long term)
- Some of our current plans
- Finish misting system and tree grow beds
- Plant new long term cover crops
- Finish installing zone based irrigation
- Green House (we shall see)
- Reduce chickens, expand ducks (more involved then you’d think)
- Set up store front for NineMile.farm (do we really need it?)
- Set up full workshop in the out building
- Plan spring propagation and planting goals
- Build a comfrey propagation bed
- Fencing solution for the porch area (duck shit is an issue)
- Mulch, mulch, mulch, and mulch
- Plan and get ready for spring annual gardens
- Create “living fence” foundation for the gardens
- Ponds? Is it really possible, or worth it?
- Fence in garden ponds
- Extend planting areas on food forest and urban garden
- Can I get this all done, who knows, that is why we start our planning now
Resources for today’s show…
- Join the Members Brigade
- The Year 1499
- Join Our Forum
- Walking To Freedom
- TSP Gear
- PermaEthos.com
- AgriTrue.com
- GenForward on IndieGogo
- JM Bullion – (sponsor of the day)
- Western Botanicals – (sponsor of the day)
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Good topic and good timing. I told the wife 2 nights ago that if we want to do some varieties super super early to beat out the bugs (like squash) we gotta get seeds started… VERY soon…
This previous year we planted squash in mid season and got vine bores almost immediately after they started fruiting so we got almost nothing out of plants which normally put one completely on their back with the amount of food they produce.
Several of us Iowans are thinking of Spring!!! We’ll be warming up this weekend too, so that will REALLY get us in the mood to plant some stuff! 12°F seemed warm yesterday and we’re to hit 50+ on Friday… Can’t wait to hear this one Jack 🙂
I just updated my blog with a growing rack build video, too.
http://abundantdesigniowa.blogspot.com/2015/01/how-to-build-growing-rack-for-seed.html
It’s funny you did this episode today.. I got up today and pulled out and organized my garden stuff and ordered some seeds, started planning my greenhouse, and even ventured out in the “global warming” that still hasn’t melted completely to inpect my garden area… then comes this episode… nice timing!
Hey Jack, you mentioned making a workbench. This might be more involved than you were planning, but your past-guest Wranglerstar has an awesome series about making a “poor man’s carpenter’s bench”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idVew6hgqrY&list=PLu9l40IymKw-8C1UVKyGZcaY2Qujepxl5
I’ve been following the series and have been inspired by it.
Stephen beat me to it. I plan to use this design on my bench for my new shop. The design Wranglerstar used I believe is from a guy named Paul Sellers (not certain on the spelling.)
For putting in a fence in shallow soil I have used fiberglass fence posts and a battery hammer drill with a masonry bit the size of the post. It goes very quick and you don’t have to go very deep to get them to stand. They can be a challenge to remove depending on the soil/rock type.
What about your bee hives? I never hear you talk about them much. Are they all alive, how much honey is there? etc.
I’m going to be trying this online bee journal: http://www.hivetracks.com/
They are doing well, we won’t take from them in the first season. There isn’t much to say, I feed them, in the spring we need to divide them a bit to prevent swarming, that’s about it.
Jack,
I put this in facebook too. On this podcast you were talking about quick fencing for your ducks. I live in Michigan so we have snowdrift fencing easily available. The kind I’m talking about is about 24″ high wooden slats so if painted can look like a picket fence. the nice thing about it is that it comes in rolls. A neighbor made a cheap picket fence with some of it last year and it looks beautiful with a nice country charm. You can stretch it around poles or use 8′ to 10′. tomato stakes across the slats top and bottom to make sections using small pin style hinges with “R” pins in place of the normal pins to hold it together. It’s an idea.
Interesting idea. I am not sure if you have limestone like I do but if you ever want to make something permanent. Make that hole, put a metal post or rod in it and when you do add some powdered sulfur to the hole. It will fricken weld itself in there. I don’t know why this works, I just know that it does.
Jack – Speaking of the coming change-of-season, your show today brought the following question to mind.
I just moved my family to a semi-secluded 2.5 acres, and we can now have beehives without the blue-haired HOA Nazi complaining about our little friends. This year we are starting at least a hive or two.
What would be the best time of year to start establishing a new hive? Does the time of year even matter? Thanks for any info!
Almost all bee colonies are started in the spring, usually late April thru June. This should give the bees plenty of time to get established so that they can get through the winter. In the spring the population of the hive will explode and a healthy hive will swarm, the old queen and half of the colony will leave the hive and look for a new home. Michael Jordan “The Bee Whisperer” can go into greater detail than I can. I plan on catching a 2 or 3 swarms this year to get my apiary started.
I already ordered my package of bees and I believe they need to be ordered by April 1st in my area (MN.) Delivery is May 2nd.
Good luck! And make sure to feed a lot. I don’t think I did enough with my first hive last year.
Jack, if the fence you use now works, but just doesn’t look that good, there is an easy way to dress it up and add a secondary use. Use one cavity of the cinder block for the fence, and plant something in the other cavity.
Jack, thank you for doing this episode right now. While it was very much geared towards homesteading, it is also relevant in other areas of life – typical household projects, financials goals, health etc.
This is a traditional time of year for people to get a “fresh start” on many different aspects of their lives, I encourage people to consider using your methodology for prioritizing tasks, discussed at the beginning of the episode, for more than just homesteading.
I just started sweet potato slips and beat seeds under florescent light on a shelf. I’ll enjoy greens and then have well developed starts for when the weather warms a bit. Micro greens will be started this week.
The lights add some heat to the house and the plants a bit of humidity.
I’ll have to develop a new technique for getting sweet potato slips. The slips I started last year (and ended up using successfully) were just way more of an irritation than they were worth.
I basically cut them in half, put some toothpicks in them, and put it in a mason jar of water.
Interesting idea about an ‘above grade pond’. Wonder how that will work out for you. keep us posted.
Jack,
OMG, yes, I would participate in a workshop at your place to learn how to operate an excavator. There are direct flights from Springfield, IL to DFW daily & I will be on one of them if you set it up.
Bill
Life TSP Member
Perma Ethos Founder
I’m looking forward to this spring. After moving to our place two years ago, this will be the first spring we were not remodeling or taking care of a new baby. Have time to actually plan a little this year!
Jack,
Concerning your pond/ponds.
Maybe call a “pool installation company” and see what the cost is for digging an in ground pool in your area. That would give you an idea of an approximate cost at least.
And ask about how they would go about it…if nothing else, get some free information out of it.
I know the cost the neighbors did this, it took two 25 ton excavators and a dump truck to haul away rubble. I really don’t think people understand what I mean when I say rock.
What, no Gantt charts? 🙂
I created the spreadsheet Jack talked about. Nothing special, but it’s one less hurdle for people to get this done. Feel free to copy, improve, share, etc.
http://www.evernote.com/l/AAtssydIQe5EP4v40jLAgM0FRbZc4yAzyrY/
Jack,
Trying my hand at micro scale farming this year… going to be growing the 4 hottest peppers known to man:
Carolina Reaper, Trinidad Scorpion, Ghost pepper and Big Sun Habenero
I have a friend who does this (very well) in Madison, Wi. He does it to make a epic chili spice. But he says the key to his success with peppers is keeping them in pots in the porch. Something about isolates them from diseases/pests, and allows him to move them to betters sunny areas (sunny parts in the early summer, and shadier in the middle of a hot summer)
Thanks for the tip Hootie, I had planned to just throw them in the beds.. but this does seem like a better idea.