5 Tips for Starting Seeds Indoors

Starting seeds indoors can be frustrating, exhilarating or sometimes a little of both. As someone who has serially killed hundreds, maybe thousands of innocent seedlings, by using these techniques, I've increased my success rate in starting seeds successfully.

Let There Be Light: For seedlings to grow properly, they need light. And lots of it. Chances are that you don't have enough natural light to grow healthy robust seedlings, even if you have a south facing window. If seedlings don't get enough light they will be spindly and won't make it to healthy adulthood. Don't be alarmed though, setting up an artificial light system can be easy and not expensive.
I have a simple set up in my basement using inexpensive metal shelves. I have attached shop lights using "S" hooks and the chains they came with, so they can be raised as the plants grow. Sometimes if you're growing several types of plants under one light, one side of your shop light will have to be higher than the other, as plants grow at very different rates. I have fitted the shop lights with one cool and one warm fluorescent bulb. I also plug these lights into inexpensive timers, so I don't have to keep track of turning them on and off. Once the seeds have germinated I set the lights to go on for 14 hours during the day. I also keep them as close as possible to the seedlings - two to three inches at most. It's amazing how much better and faster seedlings grow if the lights are that close.

Use Self-Watering Seed Starting Systems: I will never start a seed in a small peat pot again. They just dry out too fast. Self-watering seed starting systems are becoming increasingly popular, and there are many to choose from. I've tried several and my hands down favorite is the APS Seed Starting System from Gardeners Supply. I'm also very partial to my own design of a free, self-watering seed starter that you can make from a supermarket pie plate and some string.

Use a Good Seed Starting Medium: One might think that given all the seeds that grown in the ground and do just fine, that you could grow your indoor seeds in garden soil. Bad idea. Seedlings are very susceptible to a dreaded fungus called “damping off.” You know you have it when all your seedlings are fine one minute and the next day, they have keeled over, dead as a doornail. With all the work starting seeds requires, it makes sense to give seedlings the best chance for survival by using a sterile planting mix.

Feed Your Seedlings: Most sterile planting mixes don't have don’t have any built-in nutrients at all. For awhile seedlings get all nutrition they need from the seed itself, but when you start seeing leaves you’ll want to feed your seedlings with a diluted solution of liquid fertilizer.

Ventilation and Wind: Seeds are really meant to be planted outside in the elements. They are designed to get sun, rain and wind. By planting indoors you are really attempting to fool Mother Nature. Lots of us are planting our seeds in our basements, the part of the house that is probably least like the natural world, with air that doesn’t move.

Not surprisingly, it turns out that moving air is an important factor in helping seedlings to develop a robust root system and strong stems. To approximate wind, try setting a fan on low near your seedlings. If you do, you will get sturdier plants. I also gently run my hands along the tops of my seedlings for a couple of minutes a day to give them even more of a workout.

Read the Seed Packet: Most seed packets have a wealth of information. First, they will tell you how deep to plant your seeds - a critical piece of information. Most packets will tell you if it's even ok to plant the seeds you are considering indoors - some plant just flat out don't like to be transplanted and are better off started in the container garden in which they will live. The packet will tell you how long it should take for the seed to germinate and how many weeks before the last frost you should start your seeds. Keep the seed packet for the life of the plants. Chances are there will be information that you will need at some point (particularly if you've thrown the packet away).

How to Know if A Goat is Sick

If you're new to raising goats, you might wonder how you will know if one of your goats is sick. While some signs of illness are self-explanatory, here's a handy checklist for "what a healthy goat looks like" so that when things are off, you can be on top of the situation. Also check out our list of goat diseases so that you can match your goat's symptoms to a possible cause - and treatment.

Signs of Stress in New Goats

When you first buy your goats and bring them home, they may be stressed from the transport. And stress is also a sign that something may be off in your goat care: perhaps not enough, or the wrong kind, of food, or insufficient water intake, or maybe one goat is being bullied by its more aggressive herdmates.

Whatever the root cause of the stress, the signs of illness below can also be the symptoms and signs of stress in goats.

At their worst in a newly transported goat, these can develop into shipping fever - characterized by pneumonia, diarrhea, a fever over 103.5 degrees F, nasal discharge, coughing, or rapid breathing. If you suspect shipping fever, contact a vet immediately.

Signs of Illness in Goats

Weakness. Your goat might not walk normally, or won't be her usual playful self. Her head and ears may droop. Not getting up at all would be the most extreme sign of weakness.
Not eating or drinking as usual. If your goat isn't drinking or eating normally, something may be wrong.
Pressing head against wall or fence.
Not urinating, or difficulty urinating.
Feces aren't normal. Goats usually have pelleted feces. If your goat's feces is runny or loose, this indicates diarrhea.
Pale or gray eyelids and/or gums. Healthy goats have nice pink eyelids and gums.
Hot udder. This can indicate an abscess or infection of the udder.
Limping or staggering.
Runny nose and/or eyes.
Coughing, funny breathing, or unusual crying.
Isolation. If your goat isolates himself from the rest of the herd, something may be wrong.
Ears held strangely.

Tips and Tricks for Selling Produce at the Farmers Market

Overloaded with vegetables, herbs and chickens, or just thinking about next year? Whatever your motivation, bringing produce and food to sell at the farmer's market is a cornerstone of many small farms' marketing plans. Before you pack up the van or truck, learn how to maximize profits and minimize undue effort when you sell at the farmers market.

Choose Your Products Wisely
Let's face it. Everyone has piles of zucchini, heads of romaine, and cucumbers. What are you going to offer that's different or unique? Is it a specialty lettuce, an heirloom tomato, or an uncommon herb? Check out this list of alternative crops as a jumping-off point for a brainstorm session.
Think outside the supermarket. What can you offer customers that the supermarket or even the local food co-op cannot? Some of the more unique things I've seen recently: sprouts and shoots, microgreens, rare lettuces, rare or uncommon herbs like marjoram, and value-added products like elderberry syrup, dried herbs, and bags of mixed roots with instructions/ideas for cooking them.

Information Overload
Potential customers go gaga over information. Clearly labeled prices are a good starting point. But go above and beyond. Make signs that answer your customers' common questions. Put information about your growing practices on cards for people to look at. Do your laying hens have names? Make a sign proclaiming, "Henrietta lays the yummiest eggs!" Get creative, think eye-catching.

Some things to think about when making your signs:
Is it organic, free-range, pastured, integrated pest management? Name the quality, then describe what it means to the customer.
Is it specialty, heirloom, or rare? Maybe a sign explaining that Roy's Calais Flint Corn is a rare, heirloom variety common in New England in the 19th century will spark someone's interest.
How do you use it? What is it good with? You might share that your kale is particularly tender, and that the baby leaves can be eaten raw in salad, for example. Selling a unique or uncommon herb? Suggest pairings with other herbs and with foods.

Bring photos of your farm, and print off your "About Us" page from your website and have it available for customers to read. While you're at it, it's a good idea to have business cards with your farm's name, location, hours, and website available. Brochures on CSA shares, copies of any newspaper or magazine articles featuring your farm -- think of anything and everything that showcases who you are and what you do and bring it for customers to look at.

Happy New Year

Merry Christmas

How to Raise Turkeys

Turkeys can be a fun, profitable addition to a small farm or homestead. They are usually raised for meat, although some people like to keep a tom (a mature male turkey) around as a pet. Before you decide to add turkeys to your farm, here are the basics on raising them the right way.

Choosing a Breed
Broad-breasted Whites are the "modern" eating turkey, similar to the ones you find in the supermarket (but even this breed, raised on pasture on a small farm, will taste far more flavorful than the supermarket variety). Standard Bronze and White Holland varieties are also popular breeds for meat production. Broad-Breasted Bronzes and Whites are not actual breeds, just a non-standardized commercial strain used for meat, while White Hollands and Standard Bronzes are recognized breeds. Heritage turkeys include Bourbon Reds and Narragansetts, which are striking, medium-sized birds that excel at foraging and pest control. Royal Palm turkeys grow to a smaller finished size of roughly ten to sixteen pounds and are beautiful, different-looking birds.

Raising Turkeys From Poults
Typically, you will be starting with day-old turkeys in the spring, called poults. You will need to set up a brooder area (link) just like you would for chickens. There are lots of do-it-yourself ideas for brooder areas, from a feeding trough to a kiddie pool. Just like starting chicks, you will need to keep the brooder area between 90 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit for the first week, then slowly lower the temp by raising the lamps, cooling it by 5 degrees each week. Many of the same places that sell chicks also sell turkey poults.

Housing and Fencing Turkeys
Many farmers let their turkeys live outside on range in a large fenced pen with a movable roost assembly, much like a movable chicken coop. The best range for turkeys is short grass, four to six inches long. Red clover and Kentucky bluegrass are especially good grasses to have on the range. For a flock of a dozen turkeys, plan to build a pen of roughly 75 feet square, or one-eighth acre. Make sure your fence is secure from coyotes, foxes, raccoons, and even bears - all of whom would love a free-range turkey dinner. Woven wire fencing is a great choice, as is electrified poultry netting.
Keep the pasture fresh by moving the portable roost to clean ground weekly. You can also rotate the location of feeders and waterers to prevent manure buildup.

Feeding and Watering Turkeys
For a dozen turkeys, you'll need at least 2 gallons of water every day, so consider an automatic waterer connected to your outdoor water spigot. A four-foot-long waterer will suffice for 12 birds. Many turkey farmers build a wooden range feeder with a little roof on top to hold the feed. A feeder that holds about 100 pounds of feed is a good size for 12 turkeys, as by the time they near maturity they will each eat a pound of feed a day.

Preventing Turkey Problems and Diseases
Learning how to prevent health problems before they arise - with clean pasture, movable roosts, and fresh, clean water and food - is the easiest way to handle raising turkeys. Still, sometimes things happen and you'll need to know how to take care of them. Give turkeys enough roosting space and pasture. Make sure to raise them separately from chickens. Ensure your turkey house has good ventilation. And protect your turkeys from predators.

Processing the Turkeys on the Farm
If you're keeping turkeys for meat, the time will come to slaughter and process them. The steps are much the same as slaughtering chickens. You will simply need a bigger killing cone and make sure the scalding pot is big enough for your largest turkey.

If you want to try to breed your own turkeys, keep one tom for every 10 hens. In the spring, your turkey flock will naturally expand. If you end up with extras, you can sell "trios" - a tom and two hens - to other local farmers and homesteaders.

Things you can do to help save bees

If we do not save honey bees what happens when all the honey bees disappear?

  If the honey bee disappears we will lose much of our world food supply.

We should help save honey bees because while grains do not require honey bees to flourish, virtually all of our non-grain foods are dependent on honey bee pollination to a large degree. Worldwide, there are 90 different food plants that depend almost exclusively on the honey bee. In the USA honey bees are considered critical pollinators of many fruits, nuts and vegetables. Your own diet will be changed dramatically if we lose our honey bees. 

What you can do to help save honey bees.

1. Stop using insecticides

2.  Plant Bee-friendly plants

3. Create natural habitat gardens

4. Find out more about bees

5. Support your local beekeepers
6. Make you own 'Wild bee' house

7. Become a beekeeper

8. Sign petitions banning pesticides

9. Encourage your local authority to do more to help bees