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Homestead weekly update

Posted on May 17, 2013 by | 2 Comments

Welcome to this week’s homestead update.

Last week, I forgot to talk about the beekeeping meeting I attended.  When I took the beekeeping short course, it included a year’s membership to the Susquehanna Beekeepers, that’s my local beekeeping organization.  Each month, we have a different speaker that’s an expert on some part of beekeeping.  This month the speaker was an expert on the Small Hive Beetle.  I learned quite a lot about them.  They just made it to my area, so lucky me, I get me bees late int he year and we just started having problems with the SHB.  But according to the expert, there’s not a lot that we need to worry about when it comes to the SHB.  As long as the hive is strong, the bees are able to keep the SHB in check. Continue reading →

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Homestead weekly update

Posted on April 13, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Welcome to this week’s update.

Unknown plant

Unknown plant

As I’ve mentioned in my soil cube post, I “make” my seed starter mix. Since I don’t use all that much of it, I usually have some of the materials left over each year.  I guess some sort of seed blew into the materials because I’m getting plants that I haven’t planted growing in my soil cubes.  There are just 2 or 3 plants per flat of soil cubes.  I had one grow in a cube where a cabbage plant didn’t grow, so I decided to plant it in the garden to find out what it is.  This picture is the unknown plant in case anyone can identify it.  If not, I guess I’ll figure it out as the season progresses. Continue reading →

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Homestead weekly update

Posted on March 29, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Welcome to this week’s update.

Hive foundation

Hive foundation

This past weekend I built the base of the hives.  Initially, I bought 2 of the big cinder blocks.  But once I got them home, I found that they weren’t big enough to support the entire hive.  So I bought one of the smaller cinder blocks to put in the back of the hive.  I ended up just digging out the grass. The cinder blocks are about 2 inches down.  I made sure that they are level side to side, but the rear of the hive is slightly higher than the front.  This is so any water that gets in can run out the entrance. Continue reading →

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My homestead goals for 2013

Posted on January 7, 2013 by | 1 Comment

As promised, here’s my list of goals for 2013 on the homestead.

Plant more fruit – Last year, I started planting the fruit trees for the orchard.  I also planted some raspberries.  This year I will expand my fruit production.  I currently have 2 types of apples, 2 types of sweet cherries, 2 types of tart cherries and 2 types of almonds.  My next trees will likely be Asian and European pears.  After that, I want some peaches, plums and more apples.  I’ve also been looking into pomegranate trees, I found that some grow into zone 5.  I may order a couple of those to add to the orchard.  In addition to trees, I plan on planting more cane fruit.  I will likely plant more raspberries, but will add blackberries to the yard.  I have a whole list of various fruits that I want to eventually grow, many are unique and not regularly grown in gardens.  I just want to try out as many as I can find. Continue reading →

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13 Skills in 2013

Posted on December 5, 2012 by | 5 Comments

Regular readers know that I listen to The Survival Podcast.  For the not so regular readers, this isn’t about the whack job survivalists that run off to the mountains of Idaho to live in seclusion.  It is mainly for prepping for the likely disasters that happen to regular people.  You know the stuff, loss of a job, loss of a family member, power outage, natural disasters, that sort of thing.

Anyway, Jack Spirko has launched 13skills.com which is geared to get people to learn or improve 13 skills in 2013.  These can be skills related to pretty much anything.  There are people that want to get their concealed carry permits, learn Continue reading →

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Homestead weekly update

Posted on November 2, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Welcome to this week’s update.

Lacto-fermented radishes

I was surprised to see the lacto-fermented radishes lose their red color.  The solution took on the color and the radishes are now white.  The last batch had a slight radish taste, but didn’t pick up much flavor from the garlic and peppercorns.  I did like that the sour taste from the fermenting was not overwhelming.  I could taste it, but I could also taste the flavor of the radishes. Continue reading →

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Homestead weekly update

Posted on September 21, 2012 by | 2 Comments

Welcome to this week’s homestead update.

One year ago this week, I published my first post on The Homestead Fritz.  I’m pretty happy with what I’ve posted in the past year.  I think I’ve brought up some things that aren’t really covered on other blogs.  I also think that I’ve put a different spin on some homestead activities.  I hoped that I’d have more comments to let me know that what I’m posting has been useful, but there haven’t been many comments.  That said, I’m not sure that I can keep up with the required frequency of posts.  I’m also losing interest in writing up everything I do on the homestead.  So I’m trying to figure out if I should continue posting on a regular schedule or not.  If I decide to not post on a regular schedule, I will keep posting, but it probably won’t be 3 times a week.  It may be just weekly update posts, it could be posts when I do something new to the homestead.  I’m really not sure.  But I do plan on keeping the blog alive. Continue reading →

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