^ 
and you know no harm no foul. Just joking. must me a American thing.
[quote]Totenkopf wrote:
@Sky - Was it difficult growing crops when you first started off? How does it differ from growing edible food to something like flowers and trees? How the hell do you keep bugs from eating that shit? I been reading up alot on it from this site, http://urbanhomestead.org/ and from what I nseen so far,its nto so much difficult as ti is time consuming and abit expensive. I kinda want to try my hand at it. I might want to hold off on the chickencoop because I realized that chickens are loud as hell. Still want to do the bunny coop thing.
@ID - Ha,Well,my backyard is kinda reserved for my dog so it would tear the shit out of it so that kind of leaves the front yard for my garden and I dont think it would be so much a great idea to have pot plants out in the open. My roommates would love the idea of growing their own pot though.[/quote]
No, no difficulty starting off. Aside from the local soil being of they type that you can basically dig a small hole, plant something, and have food in a couple months, I take a couple of steps to ensure good yield.
- aerate the soil very well by turning the bajeezus out of it.
- I churn about 50 lbs. of sand/3sq. ft. to keep it loose and fine.
- Mushroom manure- A byproduct of farming and the local mushroom industry, regular cow manure that has been used for growing mushrooms. Very high in nitrogen and compost material. Same distribution as sand. I don’t know if it is available in Texas, but I’m sure you can find some regular manure around there somewhere.
- Te soil has to be “alive” with lots of bugs, worms and all types of bacterial enzymes and stuff. The mushroom manure helps this a lot, as does a couple of cans of night crawlers (fishing worms). If I do use a pesticide, it’s Liquid Sevin by ortho. A light spray on the leaves is about it. I don’t like to really soak things and leave the soil basically dead.
Thats about it. Very cheap, and a good afternoon will have you more tomatoes, peppers, other various veggies than you’ll know what to do with. Weeds aren’t a big problem, as the high nitrogen is “hot” and good at keeping weed seeds from taking, and the few that do come out of loose soil very easily.
[quote]Mad HORSE wrote:
I’d say go the garden route. If you already have a little bit of land to work on then it’s relatively cheap & easy to get going. And it can pay for itself once the harvest comes.
Have you ever had a tomato that came off the vine only a few seconds ago? It’s like a tasty orgasm.
Seriously.[/quote]
My sis grows little romas that I quarter, wrap in a big basil leaf add a leaf of hot oregano, and CHOW!
Best and tastiest snack in the universe. By mid July I end up with basil oil seeping out of my pores. Have to knock the Italian women away with a stick!
As your friendly neighborhood HOA nazi, if you live in a covenant controlled community, make sure your action is permissible under your association’s governing documents.
I’d go for a shed, I think. Gardens are great, but take a lot of upkeep.
[quote]Totenkopf wrote:
@Sky - Was it difficult growing crops when you first started off? How does it differ from growing edible food to something like flowers and trees? How the hell do you keep bugs from eating that shit? I been reading up alot on it from this site, http://urbanhomestead.org/ and from what I nseen so far,its nto so much difficult as ti is time consuming and abit expensive. I kinda want to try my hand at it. I might want to hold off on the chickencoop because I realized that chickens are loud as hell. Still want to do the bunny coop thing.
@ID - Ha,Well,my backyard is kinda reserved for my dog so it would tear the shit out of it so that kind of leaves the front yard for my garden and I dont think it would be so much a great idea to have pot plants out in the open. My roommates would love the idea of growing their own pot though.[/quote]
For the garden, if you’re wondering if it will be time consuming it is not. However, I do it this way:
I pick chickens, you’ll have to do some research. But, chickens take a day to set up and not to long after that you can get eggs (ten weeks for meat). I have raised both meat and egg chickens and you can sell the chickens and eggs in exchange for the veggies, until you get that underway.
[quote]pushmepullme wrote:
As your friendly neighborhood HOA nazi, if you live in a covenant controlled community, make sure your action is permissible under your association’s governing documents.
I’d go for a shed, I think. Gardens are great, but take a lot of upkeep.[/quote]
If nobody said anything about my neighbors Bronco laid across his yard then Id be extremely pissed off if somebody complained about my harmless garden. Anyways,Ive decided to go through the garden route. Here is why;
1)My experience with power tools is okay at best.(Sauna/Shed)
2)Wood is fucking expensive (Sauna/Shed)
3)I dont think learning anything Electrical on the job is a good idea. (Sauna)
4)I cant bring myself to kill a bunny. (Bunny coop)
5)Chickens are mean as hell and a bitch to pluck + They are dirty (Chicken Coop)
I still want to do all the above but right now the Garden seems to be the easiest to start off with. Yes,I realized the upkeep is going to be a bitch but its genuinely a hobby that I been interested in for awhile. Hopefully,one day my front yard will look like this.
[quote]SkyzykS wrote:
[quote]Mad HORSE wrote:
I’d say go the garden route. If you already have a little bit of land to work on then it’s relatively cheap & easy to get going. And it can pay for itself once the harvest comes.
Have you ever had a tomato that came off the vine only a few seconds ago? It’s like a tasty orgasm.
Seriously.[/quote]
My sis grows little romas that I quarter, wrap in a big basil leaf add a leaf of hot oregano, and CHOW!
Best and tastiest snack in the universe. By mid July I end up with basil oil seeping out of my pores. Have to knock the Italian women away with a stick!
[/quote]
Nice. I’ll give that a shot. I like to halve full size ones, fill them with a mix of chopped honey ham and feta, sprinkle a little Italian seasoning on top, and bake @350 for a couple minutes. Yum!
are you building a serious shed or just something for garden tools and a lawnmower? if you’re going for a shed to use as a gym or workshop you need a concrete foundation. make sure the slab is up to code even if you don’t need permits. the local weather determines the code requirements. you don’t cut corners on your foundation. if you do it’ll come back to bite you on the ass and in your wallet. you can find the local codes at most libraries and a how to book, tape, or dvd
unless you have to dig a monster footing it’s not hard to do. after you decide the size you need for your project you’ll have to figure out how many yrds of concrete you’ll need. the formulas can be found online. unless you’re going to rent a small mixer and buy a few pallets of sackcrete the local concrete co can figure out your needs. you can wire or rebar if you need but I’d just go with fiberglassed concrete unless you have a “Tim the Toolman Taylor” complex or are building a 20x24 shop. next you just need some plastic sheeting to place in the bottom of the form if needed, shovels, levels, string, boards for forms, stakes(the wooden kind), long 2x4 for screeting the slab level, floats if you want a smooth finish or a broom to put on a rough finish, friends(hopefully one or two has some experience in this) rubber boots, clothes you don’t mind fucking up, a tape measurer or yardstick, long “L” bolts if you want to preset for your walls, and a nice weekend. it sounds a lot harder than it really is.
oh yeah I almost forgot. you also need cold beer, a radio, and a grill for afterwards.
I went a little crazy with flat bar and a roll bender from harbor freight last year making a stand for flower pots-
