Finally! An update!

So it has been quite some time since I last updated this thing. My apologies. I decided to go back to school for Nursing, and that has pretty much consumed my life. The unfortunate part about that is my yard and garden have started to slip a little bit. The heat and rain we get here in Florida makes the weeds grow... well, like weeds. I have not totally been slacking though! A few days ago I finally got some seedlings in the ground. At the end of last growing season I decided to try something I saw online. Since I would not be growing anything during the peak of summer when temperatures are too high for most plants, I decided to cover my garden to prevent weeds from taking over. Ironically, my garden is now the only part of my yard that has NOT been taken over by weeds.
To cover the garden, I put down a layer of newspaper. You want to get pages that are paper (not the glossy paper used for some of the advertisements and car dealerships) and you want to try and use the ones that do not have a ton of dye. After that, you just unfold the pages and lay them down, covering the entire area. The idea here is that the newspaper will prevent weeds from growing, since they cannot get sunlight under the paper. The nice thing is that you never have to pick the paper back up. In time, the paper will break down and become part of the soil. It has been my experience with the first round that the paper does not break down quickly. I just used my hand shovel to cut holes where I planted my seedlings. Now the seedlings will get water, but the remaining paper acts as a sort of mulch to help prevent water loss from the soil and to prevent weeds from growing around the plants.
As of right now I am growing Roma tomatoes, spaghetti squash, cantaloupe, cucumber, and bell peppers. I'm hoping to fill the remaining space with broccoli, but I seem to be having a hard time getting the seeds to germinate. I may not have stored the seeds properly. We shall see.
Anyway, I apologize again for the severe lack of updates. I'll have some time off around Thanksgiving. I'm hoping to use that time to get some pics of the garden up, and show how I make soap and laundry detergent. Stay tuned, and thank you to those of you who have commented on previous posts. Part of the reason I didn't bother to update for so long was that I didn't think anyone was actually reading. Now that I know people find this information useful, I will make more of an effort to stay on top of things. Thanks for reading!

- Sean

In the beginning.

Before we can determine what we are going to grow we need to figure out how much space there is to work with and what gardening style we are going to try and use. This past season I followed the basic method of just planting things in rows. There are a few other types, although I am not totally sure and what their proper titles are.

One method, called Square Foot Gardening, involves planting everything close together, usually in a raised bed of some kind. In a traditional garden you may have to till the ground to loosen up the soil then you plant everything in even rows. With square foot gardening you typically try to avoiding walking in the garden area. The thought here is that you don't compact the soil; this way it is easier to work with. The other purpose of this is to not press oxygen out of the soil by stepping on it. This also helps retain various microbes and other scientific sounding things that can help your garden.

There is another method whose name escapes me. It is essentially the same idea as square foot gardening where everything is close together, but can be done in a traditional garden setting as opposed to requiring a raised bed. With this method you plant everything close together. This time the point is to block out weeds and reduce the amount of water and other resources needed.

Obviously all these methods can be combined in different sorts of ways, and these examples are certainly not all there are. The important thing to remember is that if you are going to grow things close together make sure you pair up your plants well. This is called "companion planting." Regardless of the style garden you choose, looking into what grows well together can greatly benefit you. Certain plants do better if grown next to others. My Uncle Bob taught me that growing a couple Marigolds in the garden will naturally repel pests.

Once you determine the style garden you want you will have a better understanding of how much space you will have to work with. Even if you have no space for an in-ground/raised garden there a quite a few things you can grow in containers. I once saw an amazing lettuce garden that was grown in Rubbermaid bins (I'll see if I can get a picture one day). Tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, garlic, strawberries, and herbs are some examples of plants that do very well in containers. Just make sure you have plenty of room for the roots to grow down.

Personally I have tried a few approaches. My garden by is 8'x8' and I have a few large pots I use. As you can see in the previously posted pictures, I used the traditional row method last time. That garden was in the summer. In the fall I attempted to create a grid in the garden, and plant a different herb in each of the squares. Unfortunately I guess I waited too long in properly storing the seeds because almost none of them germinated. I now store my seeds in a plastic Tupperware in my freezer. The trick is to keep the as cold and dry as possible. When it's time to plant I take the out and let them reach room temperature before doing anything with them.

Ultimately all this is much easier than it sounds. Just throw some seeds in dirt and they will grow. All these other details really just help maximize your harvest and efficiency. Whenever you buy seeds, read all the instructions on the back. This will let you know how deep to plant the seed, when to plant it, and how much room each plant requires. As always if you have any questions feel free to ask and I will do my best to answer them or help you find the answer.

The Amazing Cob House

From the moment I first heard about cob houses I was in love. And what's not to like? It is an eco-friendly building that can be made for cheap. It's a combination of sand, clay and straw. Most people who live in a cob house built it themselves. Because no frame work is required for a cob house, even those with no previous building experience are able to create their own home after only attending a weekend workshop or reading a few books on the subject.

The unique thing about cob houses is that you get to essentially "mold" your house. This means that you can easily create curved walls, sculptures, and work bookcases and shelves directly into the wall. I have also seen people do things like put recycled glass bottles and other items into the wall to create nifty artistic touches. I have included some pictures below so you can see some examples of what can be done with a cob house and what they look like if you have never seen one before.

There are a few reasons why I have chosen to build a cob house as my future residence. First, they are cheap. Like really cheap. A decent size cob house can be built for about $50,000. This means that you have no mortgage. Just like that you have eliminated one of the biggest expenses in the average person's life. One step closer to being off the grid and on your own. The second reason is health related. By that I mean my own health as well as the health of the planet. The materials for a cob house come directly from the Earth and are pretty much used as they are, just mixed together. There are no trees that need to be cut down or artificial products that need to be created like insulation. Because there are no artificial products, you do not have what is known as "off gassing." This occurs in most things that are made of synthetic material. Over time those products start to break down and release hazardous fumes into the air. Since most homes use an a/c system that just cycles the air inside the house, you are pretty much always breathing these toxins. Check out this website for more information on the subject. The third reason for a cob house is efficiency. Because the house is made of mud and because the walls are usually made fairly thick, the house acts as a thermal mass. This means that the house will naturally keep itself cool in the summer and warm in the winter, reducing the need for things like a/c and heating. The fourth and final reason is that they are just awesome!

If you want to read more about cob houses, this website has more detailed information as well as links to companies that hold workshops. As promised, here are some pictures I pulled off the internet of cob houses:

Here is an example of how you can create shelves and seating directly in the walls.

Because you are molding the walls, you can make different sized windows easily.

Here the snake was sculpted right on the fireplace the painted a different color.

Those are the recycled bottles I was talking about. How awesome is that?

How To Make Newspaper Pots

1) Start off with a double-wide piece of newspaper.

2) Fold the page in half along the crease that is already there.

3) Fold the page in half again length-wise.

4) Place a soup can on the end of the page with some of the paper hanging off the end. The part that is hanging off will be the bottom of the pot. You'll notice one side of the paper is just a crease and the other side is all the edges of the paper. I like to make the crease part the top of the pot. It looks nicer and stays together better.

5) Roll the paper around the around. Try not to do it too tight or you won't be able to slide the paper off the can later.

6) Slip the whole thing over so you are looking at the end hanging off the can. Find  the end of the paper. Here you can see it hanging off a bit.

6) Starting with where the end meets the side, fold in the bottom like a roll of coins. If you fold in this part first the pot will stay together better. Otherwise the pot will want to unravel. 

7) Fold in the side across from the first fold. You now have two tips sticking up.

8) Fold in those two tips and try to flatten everything out as best as you can. If  you can see the can, you didn't leave yourself enough excess on the bottom. Undo the folds, pull the paper down so it is hanging off the can more, and try again. If the is too much paper for it to lay mostly flat, undo the folds and slide the can so there is less paper hanging off the end.

9) Carefully slide the can out of the paper.

10) Fill the pot with dirt and plant your seed.

Once the plant is big enough that you need to put it in a container or garden, you plant the newspaper pot directly in the soil. Over time the newspaper will breakdown and become compost. This also prevents you from having to take it out of a pot to transplant, thus reducing stress to the plant and roots. The other benefit is that you should be able to find old newspaper for free. You get to use it, recycle it, and feed your plant with it!

Round one... Sort of.

Last year I had a decent garden going. It was my first real attempt at a garden. Between the raised bed in the picture and some individual pots I had corn, tomato, okra, cucumber, green beans, garlic, and banana pepper. Cutter worms kept destroying the corn at the same rate it was able to heal itself, so it never really did much. The garlic died, and I have yet to really figure out why. Everything else produced quite a bit over the season. Some of the excess I tried to can, but did not have much luck (we will explore more about canning later).

When I initially started this garden, I started some seeds in those expanding peat pods. Other seeds were started directly in the garden or I purchased an already growing plant from the farmers market. With the exception of the two things that I died I feel like I had a decent success with this garden. I only used Epsom Salt as a fertilizer. This was a trick taught to me by my Uncle Bob who was a farmer for years in upstate New York. He swears that Miracle Grow is nothing but Epsom Salt with coloring in it. I have never seen anything to actually prove this, but the man knows farming so I just went with it (it should be noted that I will probably quote my Uncle Bob and Aunt Arlene frequently. The have been homesteaders for years and done everything from make jellies to slaughter a cow).

Sadly, as tends to happen, the garden died out over the winter. We had a good run, but now it is time to start over and try some new things! One thing I learned from last time is that starting the seeds in the garden is a waste. You dig a trench, pour out a ton of seeds, then later have to thin out the seedlings and waste quite a few plants. This time around I am starting pretty much everything indoors.

I also mentioned that I used those expanding peat pod things to start some of the seeds. The problem with those is that they cost money and never seemed to really break down in the garden. While mixing up the soil the other day I was finding peat pods in the soil from last years garden. Not a huge deal, but I feel like they really should have broken down entirely.

This year I am trying something totally different. I found an article online about using newspaper to make pots to start seeds in (I'll include the instructions at the end of this post). The benefit here is that old newspaper is free, and the whole pot can be planted in the garden. The pot breaks down after a while and actually becomes food for the plant. 

What I have done so far is start the seeds in plastic bags. I do this by wetting a paper towel so that it is soaked, but not dripping. I sprinkle only a few seeds on the paper towel, as many seeds as I want to grow plus a few extras as back ups. Not all seeds will germinate. After a day or two roots start to stick out of the seeds. This is when I move them into the newspaper pots. By doing this I know which seeds are viable and which are duds. When you just pour everything into the ground it becomes a guessing/waiting game. This also saves me seeds. When the seeds are started the garden you eventually have to thin them out according to each plant's needs. Sometimes this requires ripping out many of the seeds that sprouted. With my new method I have one, already growing seed in each pot which I can easily space out appropriately once it is time to take them out into the garden. So far I have started zinnias (not a food, just a pretty flowering plant), broccoli, and cantaloupe. I am germinating bell pepper, cucumber, and spaghetti squash in plastic bags. 

Don't forget that when you start a plant indoors it is not exposed to the heat of the sun or the force of wind and rain. For this reason you have to "harden off" the plants. You do this by leaving them outside for a little bit at a time. Gradually you increase the amount of time they are outside so they get used to it. If you just throw them outside they will die. I have never really hardened off plants before (not properly anyway) so we can explore that subject in detail when it comes time to move the plants out to the garden.

So this is the end of the post, and I know I promised instructions on how to make the newspaper pots. After thinking about it for a bit a decided to make a separate post with pictures so you can see how to do it. I have always been a visual learner so I know the importance of educational pictures when learning something new. Stay tuned, and happy gardening!

An explanation...

The thought of off-grid living has appealed to me for a while now. Being totally independent, healthy, Eco-friendly, and saving money made the idea really stick with me. Ultimately my plan is to build a cob house (more on those later), have a small farm and garden, create my own electricity, and make my own products such as soap and candles. Clearly an undertaking of this extreme level is not something one simply jumps into; hence my current projects and this blog. 

At 25 years old I figured I should start learning the skills needed to make this dream possible. Slowly I am teaching myself all the basics needed to live off the grid and on my own. I have heard it said that the best way to master something is to teach it to others. I do not claim to be an expert on anything involving homesteading and Eco-friendly living, but through this blog I hope to take people on my journey with me.  I will document the things I try, the things that fail or succeed, and any tips or tricks I pick up along the way.  I hope to share with readers the information I find in an effort to make homesteading and off-grid living more achievable for everyone. 

Before we go any further there is one lesson that we must all understand before committing to this type of lifestyle: large sacrifices must be made. If you really want to make this work and do it right you have to give up some things. You have to be prepared to either go without or find a way to make things on your own. You can't live off the grid if you still have to go to a large chain store once a week.  That is why this trial run is of such importance. Getting some basic knowledge of making things yourself now will help with the "withdrawals" when it is time to go off the grid and live closer with nature. 

Ultimately my goal is to do everything myself. This includes growing my own food, building my own house, raising and slaughtering livestock, creating my own electricity, recycling grey water, and making my own candles, soap, clothing, and canned food.  I hope that I am able to impart some wisdom from my successes and failures. Like I said, I am no expert. I plan on using this blog to simply explain what I have attempted and why, and whether it worked or not. Enjoy reading!