Crafting with Jo: Gearing up for the Farmers Market Season

 

Last year we couldn't participate in the Farmers Market because of the COVID scare and lockdowns. We continued to craft and build up supplies. Our local market operates from next week through the beginning of August and is open between 8AM to noon on Saturdays. It's about fifteen miles from our homestead.

We got our required 10x10 pop up tent at an end of the season sale. Folding chairs we had. A table was fashioned and painted using a discarded folding table base from the dump. It was missing a top which Mel made out of scrap pallets. It looks very rustic which was the look we were going for.

We decided to invest the $100 fee which is no small hardship for us, Not that our local Farmers Market is that busy, but it would provide contacts for future eggs sales. We really were undecided after losing half of our free ranging hens to dogs an coyotes over the past few months. Now, we get a dozen eggs a day from our hens. If response is good, then we'll buy new hens to supply customers with farm, free range eggs. If there is any doubt about the chickens being free range, I've got pictures of Mel chasing them out of our living room and laying eggs in our back porch that two of them favor, and roosting on our front porch railing. There's little doubt that the flock is free ranging to any visitors we've had. They've been greeted by the chickens and dogs before we can get outside.

I've started four 36-cell trays with herbs vegetables, and flowers to sell a month ago. I've crafted small herb "dish" gardens and pots to sell out of upcycled containers. We've got some cut, fresh herbs to sell ( rosemary, sage, thyme, and oregano). We'll add to the list as the annuals grow. Our market is chemical- free and only home grown produce. Unlike other farmers markets, no wholesale produce is sold. A yearly inspection of farms in the co-op keeps it that way in the truest sense of the words. Even the inspectors operations are checked to maintain the locally grown, chemical-free guidelines of the market.

The baskets, boxed, and cups that came with vegetable and fruit purchases over the last three years have been dusted off and been given a new lease on life to display our wares. An old cube storages rack now will be loaded with plants while another 9-bin cube rack will feature homestead made objects. I'll be carrying our Traveler spinning wheel and plastic yarn (plarn) to spin into worsted weight plarn as an attention grabber. Meanwhile, a Command hooks on one of the cube storage racks will hold market shopping bags (we've made) for sale. One of the cubicles of the homestead made products will hold 350-yard skeins of plarn to sold. This will sit on two ice chests gilled with eggs. It takes a minimum of 2 skeins of plarn to make a 12"x12" sized tote. Mel crocheted some while I knitted some. I made some copies of the patterns we used as a bonus. This pretty much fills our table and tent.

Our total expense including our membership fee should be met within a few short Saturdays. I've spent the last three years talking to most of the regular vendors and watching the traffic flow through the market. The busiest time id either the first hour or the last hour. We may have to build another table with boards and a saw horses, but that remains to be seem. For our first venture, I'm thinking no more than ten of each item. I may change my mind. If we sell out the first Saturday, we'll change tactics the next. It will be a good thing to sell out. Mel will have a notebook for items for people to orders for the following weekend pick up. Anyhow that's the plan. Wish us luck! After all, one man's trash is another one's treasure, right?

Y'all have a blessed day!

Cockeyed Jo

The Cockeyed Homestead is Redoing Everything...

I received this response to a comment I made on another blog. It's true, but then again false.When I speak of redoing/revamping/changing focus for our homestead, it falls in various headings.

When I wrote about doing or redoing the back porch kitchen, it was to make the cooking/ canning area a more efficient work space for me rather than a couple of rough wood counters with a three-burner cook top and a grill. We actually used scrap wood and a counter top with sink that I bought when we were planning a butcher station. It works better this way for the expanded canning operation I do each year. With the addition of plastic sheeting over the screens, I have made it into a cold weather greenhouse with plenty of space for the growing transplants and not cold tolerant trees to be housed during winter. This falls under expanding and completing the intended tasks.

Similar to my old setup

The butchering station fell through the cracks in our relationship, Mel's and mine, we just didn't know enough
quirks about each other at the time. The plan I made for here was a carryover from my previous homestead where I raised meat rabbits and chickens to butcher and eat. The same went for hunting. For decades, I fed small rodents( not rats) squirrels, random rabbits, and assorted smallish critters that wasn't essential for our food needs to make and supplement our dog food.

While Mel, being a dyed in the wool carnivore, belonged to PETA and was against killing animals. I guess buying it from the grocery store was okay. I asked her if when she went fishing did she catch and release the fish, or cook them up and eat them. She answered she ate them. It boggled my mind at her paradoxical relationship between food and where it came from. I finally realized, it was the loving, nurturing and caring before the killing she had for our livestock that was the problem. Anyhow, the countertop and sink didn't go to waste.



I spend quite a lot of the time in our kitchen. That's one of my main jobs on the homestead. In our bi-annual top to bottom scrub-a-thons, I noticed how shabby the cabinets looked and how the previous owner had painted the cabinet hinges as well. A fresh coat of paint and redo on the hardware was needed.  If you don't take care of what you've got, it won't take care of you.This fell under maintenance. The fact that it looks so much better puts a smile on my face.

We've finally found the culprit behind our leaky ceiling. It was the gutter. It filled with rain water quicker than it could be drained away. An additional drain spout fixed that problem. So simple but so hard to detect with the insulation and ceiling tiles in the way. This is repair and maintenance. As will the ceiling when we complete the project this winter.

We've worked on the wiring and plumbing in the house. Let's face it, we are living in an over thirty-year old double wide trailer and it sat abandoned for seven of those years. The people before us made renovations that were cockeyed and half-assed like water lines out of flexible black hoses with garden hose splices, buried only 6" underground from the well to the house. Come on! Who was standing behind the door when God gave out common sense?  So somebody that knows how to do it right has to correct it... namely me holding the purse strings for someone else doing the work now. This is maintenance and repairs.

That's a lot of our revamping comes from necessity. Like changing the angora rabbitry into a stores building. We had jars in ever nook and cranny. We lost half of them not knowing where we put them. Buying staples for 6 months to a year was impossible. Building a new bunny barn to now, a chicken/bunny barn. It goes under improvement, future income, and growth.

Mostly it's Mel changing directions to find a viable way to make an income since nobody wants to hire a woman her age and attitude. She got tired of caring for the angoras and couldn't get the hang of spinning, so we decided to downsize our rabbitry/fiber production operation. This revamp goes under future growth and income.

The deaths (not by choice) this year of 5 out of 9 rabbits put us right where I wanted to be for a continued small production rabbitry. I can breed them if I find I can handle more without Mel. She got her wish. She's lost interest, but I haven't. So I have enough now to keep me happy with caring and grooming them, gathering and spinning their fiber, and selling the surplus. This falls under maintenance and income.

Meanwhile, the extra space will start Mel's new interest, chicken farming. The hatching, raising, and selling certain breeds of chickens at different ages. Selling chicks, pullets, roosters, layers, and eggs can be quite lucrative as a money maker for the homestead. With more coops and runs to come later. Improvements geared for future income.

Nothing is ever wasted on a homestead. It goes through several reincarnations as the trial and error process continues. It meets our needs and that's the important part. Everything changes. It's improved upon, converted, reinvented as needs arise.

So yes, the Cockeyed Homestead is redoing everything constantly. We are constantly evolving over time as needs arise. Nothing is stagnant or it dies. So hang in there with us as we repair, renew, and repurpose this once abandoned property into our dream of the most self reliant, and organic lifestyle that we can. We ain't done yet with our shoe string budget.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Cockeyed Jo

Building Organic Garden Soil, Finances, and Homestead Design

Well, the cardboard is laid. At least it is all out of the house. It was quite a pile. Since Mel is in summer mode, she's spending the majority of her time, in not building mode, on the screened back porch because it is cooler. The formal dining room was being used as the cardboard storing area. All the shipping, drink, and assorted boxes are broken down as flat as they can go. All the packing tape is removed. Who wants plastic in their organic garden, not me.

When we get a goodly stack, table and surrounding floor is covered, we set about moving them where they are needed. These areas right now, is the vegetable garden for stubborn weedy patches and the orchard. It's a slow process building soil this way, but we're in it for the long haul. Doing something the right way always takes time, but the end results are worth it.

I'm waiting on the rains next week to thoroughly soak the cardboard in place. Then, I'll cover it all

with straw and hay. I'll wait until it rains again to soak it all in place before I add the compost layer or sprinkle bone meal over the area. I'll repeat this process again and again throughout the fall and winter seasons (without additional cardboard layers). By the time the snow falls, it's time to quit and let it all cook during the rest of the winter until early spring. This type of layering is a "lasagna" gardening technique for building organic soil. Instead of a chopped leaf layer, Mel will blow leaves from the property. Instead of peat moss, we use wheat straw and fescue hay (both are relatively available and cheap here). Two 4x5 rolls of hay ($45) will cover the 1/4 acre orchard in several inches. We roughly measure each layer by the foot.

Worms love the wet cardboard. They are drawn to it devour it, and lay their eggs in it. Then, they will get started on the upper layers during the winter speeding up the composting over winter. The worm tea fertilizes the broken down material. They'll also break up the hard clay. So long as you feed them, they'll stay in the area. They'll multiply at will in the warm, composting layers creating a bio-diversified soil mix. In the orchard, this will be the second year of doing this and the last giving us almost four feet of new soil to plant in.

Building soil this way, on such a large piece of land isn't easy. It's time consuming and often back aching labor. It would be easier and more expensive hauling in three dump trucks worth of top soil and compost in. But there is no telling what is in those truck loads. From experience, I've found "compost" less than half composted material (branches and too green stuff mixed in). Fill dirt and top soil is often riddled with weed seeds just waiting for the opportunity to sprout. I want to reduce my labor not increase it.

Last year, we did a "back to Eden" layering with shredded trees and branches waste with a combination of cardboard and straw for the orchard. We had an abundance of tree "trash" after hurricane Irma blew through. This year, not so much. Thus, the lasagna gardening technique. Sometimes, one method just isn't doable because of the expense. I mean nothing beats free with a minimum of labor afterwards, right?

We're building this homestead on the cheap because we don't have thousands of dollars to do it with  Granted, I did shell out $1500 to have the orchard area cleared and terraced. It was necessary to expand our homestead infrastructure. It will return to me many times over in produce, grain, and straw... not to mention fruit and wine.

This was a major expense on my fixed income. Anything over $500 a month is what I consider a major expense. Still, I'm thankful that I have that amount of sort of dispensable income being on just Social Security and my retirement check. I owe of this all to my beloved's careful financial planning. God give him rest. With Mel full time on the homestead and not working outside the homestead, it's a blessing to be sure.

Cockeyed Homestead layout design

We are planning our homestead with aging in place in mind. After all, nobody is getting any younger. It's only smart. We are both sexagenarians already and women to boot. That's not to say that being women alone is a hindrance, but working smarter, as well as harder at times, does come into play more than if we had a man around to do the heavy lifting. The majority of our housing, barn/workshop, gardens, orchard, livestock are all in half an acre rather than spread out over our two-acre property.  This is only partly due to the landscape of the property. The other part is accessibility  in the design layout of ours.

I had thought to plant my berries and grapes on the top tier of  our orchard but changed my mind and planted them on the second tier from the top. The berries and grapes are easy enough to tend to on the second tier. The berries and grapes enjoy full sun on the second tier and protected from strong winds that can sweep through the hollow. Once the fruit trees mature and grow in size, the berries and grapes will have even more protection, but still have plenty of full sun because of the terraced hillside.

Example of our elevated pallet raised beds

On the top tier is more shaded so it's perfect for the raised pallet beds with herbs. While most herbs love full sun, the sun gets pretty strong and heated in Georgia. The partial shade will benefit them on the top tier. There will also no watering issues because of them being elevated beds. A simple soaker hose system attached to the 375- gallon water tote should supply them with ample wet stuff throughout their growing season. The beds will over winter with a thick blanket of compost and mulch.

Did I mention that these beds do double duty? In the space below the beds we stuff with large, perforated, black trash bags filled with moist leaves. These leaves will compost and form mold that increases the biodiversity. Ants and worms will work to break down the leaves over time. This way the space these beds take up do double duty. To make removal of these bags easier, we tie long pieces of baling twine around the top of these bags with the other end wrapped around a nail on the outside of the raised bed. The baling twine is recycled from the bales of straw and hay we purchased during the years.

We'll even reuse the bags too until they are too torn up to use again for leafing. Then, they will be cut into 3" strips and braided them to form weed deterrent mats under the fruit trees. The braiding will allow water to seep into the ground and it makes them stronger. They'll have many more years of reuse to them. I even reuse baling twine to make these. As the trees grow they will need bigger mats so nothing goes to waste. I'll even leave rows gap stitched together so I can plant garlic in the gaps. Garlic keeps moths and other pests away from fruit trees. On average, every five rows of braids gets a gap row for garlic, onions, or leeks. So once again, this shows multiple reuses/repurposing of items that usually end up in landfills. It doesn't have to be pretty. It just has to work. Nothing goes to waste on our homestead until it is definitely unusable again.

Y'all have a blessed day.

Working in the Orchard and Garden Planning

We've finally seen the last of 80+ degree temperatures for the year, we hope. But still we may don sweatshirts in the morning but are shucking them off by 11. And now, our work begins in the planned orchard. Our homestead is pretty much a hands on type of endeavor. We don't have huge tractors or machinery to do what we need to do. It's all hands on manual labor. Sure we hire out some things, like building the new driveway and the clearing of the orchard area, that's only smart thinking. It can be done quicker and it's less wear and tear on our bodies. We ain't spring chickens anymore going on our 60th year on this planet. I'm well into the fall hen stage and looking forward to my next stage of life. All the rest of the work is up to us. In organic gardening, you get up close and personal with your food. To me, it makes it taste so much better when the love that goes into them returns to boost the flavors and nutrition.

With our wood shed filled and the garden put to bed until spring, we are now able to tackle the orchard. It's slow going when it's only one and a half women working. With the purchase of a lawn tractor, I'm now able to venture down the tiers of the orchard more easily and safely. I've taking quite a few tumbles and falls lately. Mel Jerry-rigged a hitch that would allow us to pull the lawn cart behind it. This helped her finish the chicken coop by allowing her to stack all the necessary items from the barn to the chicken area.

I'm happy to report that the chicken coop and run are finally complete. All but the two extra roosters, we still haven't culled them, are in there. Yes, finally! I can look forward to having a productive garden in the spring. I've only been saying this for two years now. But now, it's finally done. No more gathering eggs from four different locations. No more chickens to eat sprouted seed, seed, nor sunbathing in newly planted areas. No more chickens eating almost ready to harvest produce. Of course that also means, more bugs to deal with, but I can handle that. We ferment non gmo grain for the chickens and supplement their diet with commercial, organic feed. For added calcium for the layers, we'll fine grind dried egg shells and feed it back to them. About a cup of ground egg shells to 12 cups of fermented grain is the ratio we use. The commercial layer pellets are given as a treat during the day. Leftover cooked grains, breads, meat, and vegetables are scattered in the evening. Our chickens feast like kings, but they also feed us.

 We will be laying the cardboard down in a thick layer to suppress any unwanted weeds. It will also encourage the earthworm population. We've broken down all that have come into the house including soda boxes, Mel and I are both heavily addicted to sodas for months now. But this will not be enough for our orchard space. We'll have to go into town several times for box and pail runs at our local grocery stores to cover the area. We pick up empty frosting, pickle, and such to reuse on the homestead. These have multiple uses on the homestead.

We'll be picking up two rolls of wheat straw to spread over the top of the cardboard. Mind you this is also over about a foot of wood chips. It may seem like all of this is over kill, but the results of the fine composted soil in the spring is worth it. The next layer will be composting manured straw from the chickens and rabbits. Although we don't have a year's worth, it may cover half of the area. I will also sprinkle lime, blood and bone meal to it to add the nitrogen booster it all needs to compost. After that, It's up to mother nature to water it all in over the winter.

You may wonder why I'm bothering to travel and pick up wheat straw where there are tons of hay nearer to me. Wheat straw has channels which allow air, water, and nutrients to pass through it. If it's moldy straw, all the better. It will compost fast. If the straw is seedy, the wheat grass or clover that sprouts will be fed to the rabbits and chickens. Those inky, black mushrooms that also sprout up can be harvested for black dye for wool. Nothing goes to waste on this homestead. We just harvest it and use it.

Car park before clearing

I  did the same to our vegetable patch on a much smaller scale. This year I'm also trying something new this spring. Straw bale gardening. The area where the fence (the edge of our garden patch) is in the picture was cleared of Spanish Bayonets and a tree stump by our hero Bobby when the driveway was put in. The fence is now rolled up and put away for the winter thanks to Mel's moveable fence posts. It is a driveway or parking area close to the house. In fact we can almost back up to the front steps.

I was thinking of a way to border the garden area along this short 25' area without using fencing and build up the soil in this new area. This seems to be the way to go. After two years, I'll have a thick layer of composted material in which to plant. I was thinking of planting green peas and green beans in the bales. I'm also thinking of transplanting my rosemary and lavender into a couple of bales along the far side too.  The rosemary and lavender will have years of material to digest as they grow. Especially since the three peach trees, now residing in one corner of my garden, will be moved down into the orchard in the spring.

As vegetables finish their life cycle including making seed for next year, they will be replace with other herbs and vegetables until cooler weather returns to us once more. I can companion plant Diakon radishes, Napa and regular cabbage, carrots, leeks, onions, and such. I usually plant my peppers into between my tomatoes in case you were wondering. I do love my sauerkraut and kim chi for some fabulous probiotic eating. All of these are early spring and fall plantings.

I also plan on setting t-posts or Mel's moveable fence posts and old fence to supports some vegetables while others get recycled pallet A-frame supports.

After all, it's reuse and repurpose first on this Cockeyed Homestead.

Y'all have a blessed day.

Using What's Available for the Homestead

The homestead just after purchase

The Cockeyed Homestead is all about resourcing what's available and repurposing to get what we want and need. That's what our YouTube channel is all about. Not that we are opposed to spending money when we have to. The barn and rabbitry enclosures cost a pretty penny or two. Yes, we could have done a building project for those, but the needs was immediate. Mel had a Lexus that would not do well without a cover of some sort and she needed a workshop for building projects. Sanity prevailed when working with power tools in rainy or snowy weather. The purchase of the rabbitry couldn't wait with the loss of two of our angora rabbit does over the summer.

But things like the chicken coop and run, while a need, it could be a repurpose/reuse project. By repurposing pallets and reusing fencing, they now have a coop and run for almost free. The chickens had been left to free range and roost wherever for a year. Chicken poop was covering almost every flat surface.  They were left to roost, even during the winter, on Mel's front porch because they'd out grown their coop. Our gardening attempts were decimated and something had to be done. The situation just wasn't healthy for them or us. We couldn't even gather their nitrogen rich poop for composting. It was a waste of a valuable resource too.

We needed a new, larger wood shed for fire wood storage. The previous one was falling apart. This was also a need, but one that wasn't an immediate need. We had all summer to plan and build it. So free pallets could also be used. Leftover roofing and siding from the barn made it safe from rain while the open spaces in the pallets provided ample ventilation for seasoning/drying the wood. The wood from this wood shed allows me to light our wood stove with one match.

The winds that blow up and down through our hollow allows for ample kindling and dead fallen trees each year all we have to do is gather it. Junk mail and my discarded packing boxes sets fire quick. But all that being said, the wood stove was not without expense this year. The stove pipe needed to be replaced this year. The rust had actually eaten large holes in it. That was something we had to purchase new. I guess we could have searched for some that was cast off, but it would have been a lot of effort for little results.

Yes, this one is only $17 at Home Depot

The purchase of good tools can be found at one of the local pawn shops. I purchased Mel a brand new Dremel and accessory package somebody pawned. It had never even been opened for less than $100. Perfect for small jobs and there are always small jobs where the big saws are overkill like cutting a 1/4" dowel rods with a shop saw. Even Harbor Freight doesn't sell it that low. A scythe for the grain we plan to grow was $20. Totally rusted and dull, but nothing a little elbow grease and a wet stone can't fix. We had looked at the ones in the hardware/big box stores and they were cheaper, but not as nice as the old one we bought. The curved handle makes using it more body friendly. With the straight handle, you end up working your back and upper body too much, plus it's hard to do the step, swing, sway motion that is more ergo-dynamic for cutting hay and grain. Work smart to avoid body injury is a priority on this homestead. Cheaper is not always better. After all, we aren't young anymore. Both of us are on the downhill slide of 60.

We look at everything with an eye of how many uses can it have. In my mind, everything should have multiple lives and uses. I'm also thankful for everything I have. I was searching through my belongings housed in the barn yesterday. I was looking for a particular yarn to make Mel's birthday present with. I found the old tattered, handmade and stitched quilt that had once graced my husband and my bed.  It had been made by my husband's great-grandmother. I was flooded with memories of quilting beside my mother and grandmother, and our first years as newlyweds with children. I hugged the quilt before I placed it carefully back in its box. When I rework/repair it, it will grace my bed once again in my tiny house next year. Even if I use it as batting for a new cover, it will provide warmth in the winter and memories to hug me every night.

Enough sappy stuff. My point is everything can have another life even us. We just have to open our eyes and spark our imaginations.

Y'all have a blessed week.