Hello,
It is a COLD day here in Chilton County, Alabama 38 F with a wind chill of 31 F. I have recieved my seed catalogs so I am going through them seeing what I will plant this year. I have some old favorites that I will plant, But every year I like to try something different, not sure what it will be this year. I have about 352 Sq. Ft. of raised beds, about 1 acre conventional, & 10 hanging buckets. Last year the hanging buckets did not do well, I had tomatoes in 7 of them & Cucumbers in the other 3. The 1st year I had good results with them, So 1 good & 1 bad year, I think I will try some this year and decide if it is worth continuing.
We are also improving our chicken pen and coop as the last chickens my son had the foxes ended up with 29 out of 30 so we are puting netting over the top, 4 ft. chain link around the bottom (Along with the chicken wire), and making the coop so he can gather the eggs without going into the pen ( We use our chickens for eggs only) we don't kill anything other than snakes. The pen is 50 Ft. X 50 Ft. and we let them free range the whole property during the day.
We have about 100 fruit trees Peaches, Plums, Figs, Pears, Apples, Blueberries, Pomegranate, & necterines. (The deer probably get 1/2 but oh well they have to eat also).
We are thinking about getting some milk goats and use the milk for cheese, soap, & of course drinking we have not made a final decision on this yet, we are still gathering information on the facilities needed for milking, bedding, & the pen size we will need, We have about 7 acres total and would like to use about 6 acres to raise stuff to feed our family of 4 and to make some income.
I am looking forward to getting my potato's, Cabbags, Lettuce, Carrots & other crops into the ground in the coming months. Hope to be ready for more chickens around the 1st of March.
If anyone has suggestions on a crop I might like to try let me know ( last year it was purple & stripped tomatoes) I normally order from Baker Creek Seed. also if you raise goats I would like to hear your experiences. I am always willing to learn so all comments and advice is welcome and will be read.