I would encourage other homesteaders to open up their farms for a weekend event. You could even make it a Friday – Saturday event if an entire weekend seems too daunting a task.

Why am I encouraging this, even this summer or fall, yet? In these uncertain times we need to band together. How do we do this if we don’t know the people or resources available to us? By having these events, we meet like-minded people and hopefully forge working relationships that foster an independence like never before. That is the only way we will make it through these difficult times. These farm events allow us to meet people that we can work with.

mullerslane farm 2

By having the gathering at a farm, demonstrations can take place quite easily. And, remember, it is pot-luck so that the sponsors have minimal cost. Also, if you sell any goods, what better time to sell them. You can even place a Donation jar out so those that have a mind to can bless the hosts in order to recoup some of the costs involved.

Now, you may wonder where all the attenders would come from. Do you teach any classes? Spread the word and see their friends show up. Let the people in the community nearest you know and watch them trickle in. Lastly, publish it on your blog and at the homesteadingtoday.com forum and you should get a good showing.
Remember less is more, enabling all to either participate or get a front row seat.

You can find out about their farm and to order what they offer from soap to wool to hand forged items here:
Mullerslane farm

If you liked the previous painting by Jory Sherman, there are more treats in store. The Winnesboro today has published a Father’s day piece on him that you can view here. They even show some of his paintings.

His paintings exude vibrant colors and are a delight to the eyes. His western books also create images with words and use some clever thinking. One of his latest books, Vigilante, depicts two gunman following another horseman who doesn’t want to be followed. Jory has them using a switchback technique that is pure genius. Now for the rest of the story go to his website and purchase the book or go to Amazon where you can find his books as well.

Jory Sherman has written over 300 books, most of them westerns, but not all. Also, you can find his short stories in Amazon shorts.

Heard the latest scare—-salmonella in peanut butter. Previous years the threat was in chicken and eggs. Well…we cook chicken and eggs…fine. Just recently, the threat was in spinach and tomatoes. Easy solution, just cook the spinach and the tomatoes. What is that? You don’t like cooked tomatoes in your fresh lettuce salad? Well, cooked peanut butter on celery sticks does sound raunchy, too. Hold on there. Whoa. We are trotting down the wrong path.

Let’s consider hydroponics for a minute. Lynette Morgan and Douglas Peckenpaugh have written a book called Hydroponic Solutions Volume 1 and we do need a alternative peanut butter plan here. The large Virginia peanuts are recommended to be grown hydroponically. They catch fungi very easily so need to be “dusted or treated with a good fungicide”.

They plant the peanuts in “a pumice and coconut fiber media”. Peanuts planted in “aeroponic units” allow the planter to watch the pegs or, rather, stalks that develop young prenuts on them. Since peanut plants can grow “about 30-40 pods”, hence a 2.6 gallon container that contains a “friable and light media that does not restrict the development process.”
Although some plants grow vastly different hydroponically, peanuts are not one of them. They “need a long, warm growing season – about 140 frost free days” if they are to yield well. When the leaves start to turn yellow, it is time to harvest the nuts. Taking the stalks with the peanuts attached, the peanuts are literally hung up to dry “for about 4 weeks.”

Please comment if you know how to make peanut butter out of peanuts. The best process or recipe will win….haven’t figured that out yet, but they will win ..something!

plants to be grown without soil while being supplied with all the oxygen and water or moisture that they need and crave. Instead of plants wasting energy searching for water and nutrients, these elements are supplied to them. Hence, growth is faster than in usual soil conditions because the plants are not under any stress; the resulting plants are more vigorous and healthier. In addition, less space is needed to grow the same number of plants making hydroponics a very favorable choice for indoor gardeners.

Great Stuff Hydroponics <a href www.hydroponics-hydroponics.com> has taken growing plants indoors to the next level. There are different systems and kits for you to choose from. There is even an energy efficient kit.

There are several different kits to get you started. First the Beginners kit that allows for growing 1-2 plants indoors in a small space. and the Advanced Kit that provides for 2-4 plants to be grown and left unattended for more than a couple of days at a time. From there you move on up to the Growers Kit and the Advanced Kit which provides pots for 6 plants and 8 plants respectively, those 6 plants can even be grown in a 1 meter space.

There is even a green side to hydroponics. How about a system that uses zero pumps and electricity as long as you keep it inside a greenhouse? The Easy2Grow Kit does exactly that and has add on components to expand the system to take on more plants.

Once you have selected and brought your hydroponics kit home, a few reminders about proper care and techniques are in order. First, remember to replace the nutrient solution every 2 weeks. This is important since different nutrients are removed at different rates thoughout the plant’s life. Hence, continually supplying fresh solutions assures optimal conditions for the hydroponic plants. Secondly, in order to keep the plant’s roots moist, only use water and not solution. Adding more nutrient solution outside of the prescribed cycle may result in concentration of the fertilizers and burning of the plant roots.