/diy/ - Do It Yourself

We process our own chickens on the farm. This is called a kill cone. You stick the chicken in head first, pull its head through the other side, and then cut its neck to let it bleed out. In the picture is a stunner don't use. The chicken is dead in about 30 seconds doing this.

>>60116
>u use Biogas?

Don't have a diesel truck or tractor. We use a two-wheel walk-behind tractor for all of our land-work. It's more efficient, much cheaper, and does the job just as well (with a bit more work).

This is a slightly different chicken house design. The biggest difference being the 3" PVC pipe we used for the base frame instead of wood. It's a bit more expensive, about $250, but it's bigger, sturdier and easier to move.

>>60093
It cameo out to around $8000. The shed and insulation being most of that.

Here are two of the high-tunnels we use for winter produce production. We got the frames from a landscaping company that was liquidating for super cheap. With those, plastic, rope, rebar, and t-posts, the total cost for one of these houses was around $250, with most of those materials being reusable.

The coolbot hooked up to the AC.

Outside of the walk-in cooler.

This is the inside of our DIY walk-in cooler.

We bought a utility shed, cut a hole in the back and framed it to support a window unit cooler. Then we had some spray-insulation guys spray solid 4 inches of insulation around the entire inside.

The air conditioner is wired into a device called a CoolBot. This overrides the AC's lowest temperature and causes it to cool to as low as 32 degrees.

It's cheaper, more energy efficient, and much more practical than a standard walk-in cooler, or having refrigerators for all of our product.

>>60054
>I live in the Midwest, OP. Do I get enough light from my east-facing windows to have herbs survive all winter or no?

Survive, probably, but I doubt they'd grow at all. It really depends on the specific plant.

>>60057
>how much would the govt give you in exchange for not producing anything?
Nothing.

This is one of our cheap and portable chicken houses. Total cost for this is around $150. The bottom is just a wooden 2x4 frame, and the hope is made by bending cattle panel inside the frame. We then wire chicken wire to the entire things, construct a door frame, add some roosts and nests, put a tarp over it (and some extra insulation in the winter), and it's done.

We use these are part of our rotation system. While land is resting, or if we test some soil to be nutrient deficient, we will move the house over the area. The chickens sleep in it at night and poop like crazy, so they intensively add fertilizer to the soil. We move the houses two times a week.

>>60031
>This is kind of fascinating, even though I live in the middle of a city

Do you have a yard?

>>60026
>-Do you grow crops all year round? If so, where do you live?
I live in North Central North Carolina. We're able to have produce year-round because we have high-tunnels (like an unheated green house). Stuff goes dormant and doesn't grow from early December to mid January, but if it's grown and in the ground and protected from freeze then you can harvest it and sell it. Stuff starts growing again in February and we're back into decent production in March.

>-Is the produce you grow in one season enough to last for the year? If so, how much land do you own / farm?
Do you mean like, the product last the whole year? Or the revenue last the whole year? Either way, no. Most any produce we don't sell on the weekly basis we donate to local food shelters. Small farms have to be diverse in order to be successful, so just growing produce for one season would not cut it. Conventional farmers, like soy bean farmers, tobacco farmers, wheat, etc., they get by with just one crop a year.

>>60023
>"What's your biggest seller?"

As far as consumer demand goes, our eggs for sure. But we don't have near enough hens to support the demand for them so they don't make as much money as the chicken or produce.

>>59996
Well, free of synthetics yes, but beyond that, we use permaculture techniques.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permaculture

We model systems after nature. Just because a certain plant isn't native, or almost all crops anyone grows are bred to be the way they are, doesn't mean you can't take advantage of natures natural means of taking care of itself.

>>59998
>How much does it cost to live like this, as far as electric bills, or costs for animal feed goes

I could break things down financially but it would be long and boring. I'm not sure how I would figure out how much it "costs," since farming is basically turning your life into a small business. We make sure that the meat we sell covers feed for the meat animals + a little more, egg money covers egg layer feed + a little more, and that labor spent with the produce is worth the income it brings. Everything left over goes to pay the bills, financing, repairs, etc. After that, most goes to building the farm. After that is spending money. Sometimes nothing, sometimes decent.

>>60001
>"Plants and insects are getting more resistant to them, bees are dying"

Well I'll spell it out if you really need me to. The insects which are the target of the pesticides are becoming more resistant to them. The pesticides, as they were, were not toxic enough to harm bees. Bees were safe. But since the other insects are becoming more resistant, more chemicals and toxicity are needed to kill them. And now the pesticides are strong enough to kill bees.

>>59984
>How old are you and how long did it take you to get started?
I'm 26. "Getting started" is a pretty relative term. We'll be growing a bit more. After the initial investment, we were breaking even right away.

>How much capital do you need?
For a system like ours, not considering land, you could get off the ground with $20,000, relatively cheap for farms. Grants and financing are rather easy to come by for agriculture, and we already had a significant starting fund.

>"What's the easiest animal to start with?"
Chickens for sure. They don't require that much space, eggs are incredibly useful and rather easy to sell/trade. Keeping a flock of about 50-100 chickens is a good way to break into the idea of raising livestock.

>>59983
>"Well then obviously you should grow weed in the cellar like everybody else, duh. How about tobacco?"

Haven't yet...sort of a stigma for tobacco farmers in the sustainable community. Especially around here. They've ruined a lot of land. Totally infertile now.

I don't smoke anyways.

>>59981
>"Why are you so worried about using chemicals?"

Tons of reasons. For one, they're harmful for humans. They're also harmful for the environment. Plants and insects are getting more resistant to them and so farmers are having to spray more often in higher doses. Ever wonder why the bees are dying? And the chemicals that wash off from the land go somewhere, normally into a natural water source, sometimes ruining entire ecosystems. I've seen it happen a lot around here with the conventional tobacco and cotton.

Also the chemical companies are irresponsible and bully small farmers. I don't understand how anyone could support Monsanto.

But mainly because they're not necessary. They're just not. They're for lazy people.

>>59977
>"ever consider growing drugs? because you can trade it for a lot of food."

I would grow weed if it weren't illegal. I can't risk something like that. Cops raid a lot out here, and do a lot of constant fly-overs to look for weed.

Doesn't stop me from smoking it though.

>>59971
>"this is my dream, that I shall fulfill one day. but not today, and I'm gong to sleep."

Sleep well. Good luck.

>>59967
>"How do you stop the neighbors from fucking your chickens?"
Shotgun.

Hey /diy/nosaurs.

General growing your own food thread.

I'm a small sustainable farmer. I produce meat goats, meat chickens, eggs, and produce. Everything I do is either certified organic or up to organic standards. We focus on permaculture techniques to keep our land as close to a natural environment as possible.

Ask me anything, I have a decent knowledge base of agriculture, horticulture, permaculture, landscaping, animals, livestock, etc. Come on in and let's chat about growing food.

Night guys, I'll leave this to the anon posting useful DIY food pics.