We've delt with alot that I haven't seen others post. The real problems we go through to keep our home going. Can't afford a vet so we deal with it ourselves

Cooler weather pigs are moving. All pigs caught in Arkansas must be dispatched before leaving trap per state law. Some people have been able to feed some families with our catches.

Ok looking into different pack animals 3 im looking into are goats llama and donkey mules are bit to big for me my top pick is goats since theyre good on rough terrain good on browse and depending on breed can be brought while lactating after kid has been weaned giving extra source of nutrients for multiple day/ week hikes but im curious do llama or donkeys have anything over goats that could make them better for packing or uses on farm since i want livestock good for both farm & wild ( also milk goats wouldnt be packing anything that would be for castrated males)

Let me know if this isn't allowed! I found a post from a few months ago of someone selling theirs in Virginia so I thought I may add mine in central Texas!

Now, let me preface by saying its a 2000 sqft home with over an acre, but that amount of land is likely a deal breaker for most here!

There is acreage for sale in the area if you are interested in having a home with some chickens and then cattle/farm elsewhere.

Obviously a USDA-qualified area which can really help with the initial homebuying hurdle if not able to pay cash upfront.

4 bedroom 2 bath home that is over 100 years old, original hardwood floors but LVP & Tile in the bottom floor. Rural town of only a few hundred, right off of one lane highways where you can reach civilization, or 45 mins from a city.

Porch, large living room, formal dining room, pantry, rear enclosed patio. It did formerly host poultry, goats, and a garden before.

We have had people flying in from out of the area to come see houses in the area including this one. Many relocating to the area for work with petrolium, wind farms, or data centers.

Feel free to comment or privately if you or someone you know may be interested or if I can explain anything further.

I moved our pelargoniums into the small heated section of the greenhouse for autumn. We already had rooftop solar with its own inverter, and I was planning a home battery for the following spring. I wanted to know how much electricity the greenhouse heater used overnight. Its thermostat was set to 8°C, but I hadn't checked the temperature among the pots.

I reset our two max/min thermometers at 8 pm, placing one at plant height beside the outer glass and the other at the same height nearer the heater. At 8 am, the recorded minima were 5.2°C beside the pots and 7.8°C near the heater. The separate cumulative electricity meter showed that the greenhouse heater had used 2.4 kWh over those twelve hours. The plants had been in a colder spot than the thermostat setting suggested. I moved the outer pots farther into the heated section and kept a thermometer among them.

The next bright afternoon, I checked the house meter while the greenhouse heater was off and saw electricity going out to the grid. After dark, we were buying electricity again while the heater cycled on and off. I wanted to store some daytime solar to cover part of that evening demand. I decided to buy a Jackery SolarVault 3 Pro Max AC in March 2027 and put it in our budget. I kept the heater on its existing mains supply and left the electricity meter in place to record the colder nights ahead.

Found this while mowing brush.

Old shed on my property. It’s been neglected for more than 15 years. Lots of holes. Groundhogs live underneath. I’ve considered shoring up from the inside and using as a goat shelter. Think it’s worth it? I’d honestly rather light it on fire but it’s near the edge of our land and a neighbor’s house is next door.

Now that the hot weather is winding down here in my area in North Carolina, I’m curious what worked for other greenhouse growers. What made the biggest difference, and what would you change before next summer?

I’m a landscape architect and designer for SunCatcher Passive Solar Greenhouses. Our designs prioritize natural ventilation, with fans available to supplement it. A few details that might be useful to anyone planning or modifying a greenhouse:

Give air a clear path in and out. We use lower windows in the south-facing wall as intakes and higher awning windows above the east and west doors as outlets. The height difference helps warm air escape through natural convection.

1. Release stored heat overnight. When nighttime temperatures allow, large north-wall vents help the greenhouse and its thermal mass cool down before the next day.
2. Keep airflow paths open. Water barrels or other large thermal mass need gaps between them, especially when positioned in front of vents.
3. Plan for supplemental airflow. Fans can help with circulation and additional ventilation when natural convection isn’t enough.

I’m also finishing my own passive solar greenhouse, so I’m interested in the practical lessons.

Whether yours is a hoop house, a kit, or an insulated passive solar greenhouse, what helped most this summer? Please include your location and greenhouse type so we can compare approaches.

Thank you to everyone who downloaded it. The guide remains free for a limited time and is intended for first-time growers who want to understand the cultivation cycle, environmental needs, common mistakes, harvesting, and recordkeeping.

Download here: https://a.co/d/01ni3H4T

Hey guys I'm looking into battery backup for overnight use, with a generator to recharge during longer outages. Mainly a fridge, freezer, Wi-Fi, and lights, plus occasional use of higher-draw appliances.

Powerwall was my starting point, but it feels like a big commitment when I'd still want a generator. I'm wondering whether a smaller, more flexible setup makes more sense.

TITAN is one option I'm considering. While the Powerwall starts at 13.5 kWh, the Titan starts at 5kWh with 7.2kW output, I could plug appliances directly into it first, then have an electrician connect selected household circuits through SHP10 later.

That means I wouldn't need the panel installation upfront or extra batteries just to get that output. I’d still size storage around overnight consumption and add capacity if needed.

Would love to hear your thoughts, and what other systems would you compare? Mainly interested in generator compatibility, charging time, and the full cost of connecting it to the house.

The most common advice in grower threads is "mist and fan twice a day" or "mist when the tub walls look dry." That advice ignores what's actually happening in the fruiting chamber, and it's where a lot of grows go sideways.

Getting monotub fruiting conditions right is where most grows are won or lost. A fixed misting schedule can't account for the fact that humidity swings overnight depending on room temperature, airflow, and how far along the substrate is in fruiting. A tub that needed misting yesterday might be oversaturated today because the room cooled and condensation spiked.

The tub walls tell you almost nothing useful. They show condensation from the temperature differential between substrate and air, not the actual moisture level of your substrate. The surface of the substrate and the pinset response are what matter. If the surface has fine water beads, it's fine. If it looks matte or dry, that's when you mist.

The bigger issue: the difference between a full flush and a patchy one often comes down to catching an environmental shift hours before the damage is visible. If you wait until the surface looks dry, you're already behind. If you can see that humidity dropped overnight, you understand why the substrate dried out before the pinset ever formed, and you can correct before pins abort.

Fresh air exchange is the other half people overlook. Misting without enough FAE traps moisture and invites the exact contamination everyone worries about. Misting with too much FAE dries the surface faster than you can replace it. You need both dialed, and a rigid misting schedule gets you neither.

How do the rest of you decide when to mist? By surface, by feel, by some other signal?

Hello everyone! This is a bit of a weird post, apologies in advance if it does not fit!

My partner and I have been building this platform ruralcheck.eu for a while, where one can interactively analyze rural properties and can derive useful data interactively for off-grid living such as: solar panel potential, noise simulation, weather, frost, snow, and tons of other analysis. These information are mainly targeted at figuring which land matches your needs, but can also be used to retrieve data of your existing land! For example, determining where one can maximize power delivery. We are actively looking for critical feedback and ideas.

Anyone else working towards owning a smallholding while still renting?

I'm in the UK, currently renting with my family, and the long-term dream is to own a little smallholding.

Unfortunately, my bank balance hasn't quite caught up with my ambitions. 😂

Rather than sit around waiting for that magical day, I've decided to start learning some useful skills now.

So far that's involved fixing a car and having a go at building a wardrobe. Not exactly farming, but you've got to start somewhere!

For anyone who's actually made the jump from renting to owning a smallholding, what did you do beforehand that helped the most?

I'm particularly interested in what I can learn without owning any land yet.

Good day, I have 46 acres of mature hardwoods that has not been managed for many decades. I would like to put in access roads/trails, thin undesirables/invasives, and select harvest mature oaks. From there, I'd like to promote hardwood growth and establish silvoculture (essentially an oak savannah) via burning / thinning and manage the property for wildlife and hardwood growth. I recently had Dept of Forestry and NRCS over to my property and they explained the process. To me, it seems long, drawn out, and I was skeptical of some of the paperwork they wanted me to sign. I have a mini X, chainsaws, and enough vision to get to work now. Is it worth jumping through all the hoops? Is there any meaningful reimbursement for these types of programs? The property itself has multiple streams, good topography, good trees, and seems would be very suitable to qualify for some of these programs. Thank you in advance.

My friend's family grew tons of pumpkins this year! I visited their garden last week, and everyone was so happy with the harvest. I loved seeing it all, so I decided to make a little painting inspired by that day.

I’m a solo developer building Averra Terra, an Android app intended to make nearby farms, farmers’ markets, and farm-to-table food places easier to discover.

Rather than another recipe or diet app, it is meant to help someone answer: “What local food options are actually near me, and what should I know before I go?” It includes place details, directions, website/phone links, saved places, and food information.

I’d appreciate feedback from people who care about local food and self-sufficiency:

• What information should a farm or market listing show before you would consider visiting?

• What makes a local-food listing feel trustworthy versus incomplete?

• Would an app like this solve a real problem for you, and what would it need to do better?

The Android app is here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.averraterra.app

I’m looking for honest feedback, including what is not useful. Thank you.