Thanks! We mix up our own potting soil with live compost, which I think gives the plants a better start. Most nurseries use a sterile mix and liquid fertilizer.
We've been transplanting seedlings this week. It can be a little tedious sometimes, but it sure is rewarding when you look at a greenhouse full of thousands of little baby plants that didn't exist at all a few weeks ago!
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#gardening #nursery #greenhouse #grownostr
A strip of tape (masking tape or packing tape - some kind that's not too sticky) placed on the counter in the spots where they jump up can be deterrent. The trick is to put the tape sticky side up (tape it down on the ends with a couple other pieces). They'll jump up, and absolutely hate the feeling of something sticky on their paws. You should only need to do this for a few days. If they're intelligent and not too stubborn, they'll take the hint. Very headstrong or dumb cats may never learn, unfortunately...
For reference, this is what a remorseless rabbit-killing machine looks like.
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#cats #homestead #sweetlittlemurderer
Whatever happened to just giving someone a Valentine card? 😉
My sweet little cat just brought me the decapitated head of a rabbit she must have just killed. Is that good luck or a bad omen?
This cat is the same size as a rabbit, and she's now killed two that I know of. The last time she dragged the whole bloody corpse into the kitchen through the open window. I guess I should be happy it was just the head this time.
When I was growing up, my grandma was the head lunch lady in the rural school district where she lived. I never asked how it happened, but every once in a while, we'd come back from visiting her with a big-ass box of those frozen rectangle school pizzas in the back of the station wagon. Lunches and snack times were awesome for a month or so after those visits.
Sometimes I do miss eating delicious garbage...
If you want good lights for seed starting and vegetative growth, just get some white LED shop lights. We use these:
https://www.amazon.com/Kihung-Integrated-Fixture-Linkable-Electric/dp/B086X2TX9M
They work great for starting seeds and growing leafy greens indoors. They produce a reasonable amount of heat, which helps with the seed germination. A whole room full of them gets pretty warm, though.
If you've never been around citrus trees in bloom, put it on your to-do list. The fragrance is amazing, a mix of fruit and floral, like a memory of what grape soda tasted like when you were a kid. I love that it smells so wonderful, and that it's only around for a few weeks each year, so you have to savor it while you can.
It's a gray day here, but inside this greenhouse it's warm and smells like heaven and the bees and butterflies are hard at work.
Bumper crop of lemons this year, too! If anybody in the Austin or Lockhart (#texas) area wants to trade sats for some organically grown, fresh-picked Meyer lemons, hit me up.
#garden #homestead #fruit #grownostr
Any time you need to smile, just do an image search for "baby orangutan". Works every time.
This dude's bed-head game is always on point.
#dog #dogstr #grownostr
If you're in need of a small generator to run a few small appliances, lights, etc, Tractor Supply has these little 800-watt ones on sale for $170.
Yes, it's a cheap Chinese generator, not a high-end Honda. You probably won't find repair parts for it. But if you don't have any way to make emergency power, it's a good starting place, especially at this price. I've had one of these since early 2019, and it's always been reliable. Much higher quality than I expected. It's relatively quiet and very lightweight. At 800 watts, it's not going to run major appliances, but for emergency lights, running a freezer or fridge, camping, etc, it's great.
#prepping #deal #camping #tools #bargain
That looks nice! Personally, I think I'd paint that side wall the lighter color, leaving that one panel of wood you've already done as an eye-catching accent.
Does anyone have any recommendations for good quality 18650 batteries? I have a number of devices that use them, and a mix of batteries that are reaching the end of their life. I'd like to find some quality batteries in the sea of cheap Chinese junk that's on the market.
#diy #grownostr #asknostr #electronics #tools
That Thanksgiving dinner hits hard, ya'll...
#dog #Thanksgiving #grownostr #dogstr
One thing you're probably aware of, but I'll mention anyway, is the use of lavender in calming livestock. We use lavender essential oil with our donkeys to ease their stress and calm them for visits from the farrier to trim hooves. It doesn't work with every animal, but for the ones it does work on, it's incredible how well it can work.
As far as things I'd be interested in, any kind of herbal additions to our chickens' diet to help boost their immune systems would be great, especially things that we can grow ourselves.
You know how when you're eating grapes, there's a lot of variation in the flavor of each one? Some are sweeter, or more sour, or just different tasting. When you get a really good one, you notice.
Then why the hell do all raisins taste exactly the same?
For those who doubt that true, pure evil exists in the universe, allow me to present a 3" long, fine-thread, flathead screw. The existence of this object is incontrovertible proof that there are vicious, sadistic demons among us.
#diy #evil #grownostr
We grow thousands of plants twice a year (spring and fall seasons), and start most of them from seed in these 128-cell starter trays. Going through and individually poking a little divot in each cell for the seed to be centered and at the right depth is incredibly tedious across dozens of trays...
So I designed and made this "dibbler" tool on my 3D printer. Eight stamps on each tray and you're ready to go. It was the first thing I designed myself and printed that worked as intended. Though the first attempt at printing it had a bed adhesion failure and I later found a mess of plastic spaghetti on the floor...
#gardening #nursery #tools #grownostr