¶ Intro / Opening
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¶ Chit Chat
You can partner with us to reach more homesteaders by taking a moment, subscribing, rating, and reviewing the podcast today. We really appreciate your help. And of course, if you love it. Take a second and share it with a friend who might like it. Thank you. Hey, you guys, this is Josh. And Carolyn. With Homesteading Family. And welcome to this week's episode of the Pantry Chat, Food for Thought.
this week we're talking about water saving gardening hacks for the august garden we're coming up to that really hot season in the garden you know you're wilting the animals look like they're wilting but the plants are wilting too and the answer to that is often get them a little bit more water but what are you going to do run your sprinkler 24 7. so we're going to be talking about some
things to consider to save some water water management tips there you go all right but before we get into the heat of the conversation A little bit of chitchat. What's going on with you? You know, I still feel, I think I said this last time, we're kind of in that lull. that summer lull everything's planted we've kind of been able to mostly put the garden by like stop weeding not that's a term i learned from uh from sean and beth doherty a historical term of
putting the garden by, where you kind of get it to where the plants are big enough so you're not having to do intensive weeding all the time. So we're still walking around and doing some, at least down in the cottage garden and terrace gardens. And I would imagine just management, right? Plants, they're in this state of material.
Sure, you're not really harvesting a lot yet, but they're set. Yeah, it's kind of in that spot. We're starting to get some trickle-in harvest, but nothing huge. Yeah. So... you know, eating peas all the time, as much lettuce as we want, which is always great. We've been having salads for months now, which is always lovely.
The cabbages are starting to trickle in. We've definitely done all the Napa cabbages and gotten through those, turned them all into kimchi or stir fries or the different things we've done. We're harvesting herbs. But besides that, it's kind of the trickle in. So it's like a little bit of management in the morning in the garden, walking through, making sure we know what's going on. And then picking raspberries every third day is usually what we aim for.
And then aside from that, it's kind of just quiet, which is really nice this time of year. It's kind of the time to go have fun and do other things, hang out at the river, you know, try and stay cool ourselves. Yeah. So yeah, that's what we've been up to. What about you? No, it really is just kind of this stretch right here in summer where we're kind of in maintenance mode.
You say that and I start thinking and I start going, yeah, but it's coming. It's that part of summer. It's like spring. It's not as big as spring, but you know, the end of winter and spring comes and kind of this intensity starts to build. And we're kind of in a spot right here where we're pretty much low key, though we did just process 150 meat birds.
Last Saturday. One of the smoothest days we've ever had with all the kids here. And so that's a lot for a lot of people. It's a lot for us, but it was really good. But it was just a taste of, all right, harvest season is coming. The garlics. probably in the next week or so going to be ready to come out. I think we're going to start thinning carrots and beets and bringing those in fresh soon.
So we're in that lull, but I feel it starting to tick up into harvest. Starting to come on, yeah. You know, just thinking about that chicken butchering day, 150 chickens, we were done by... Before 1. 12.30, 1.00. Done, like cleaned up, everything in the freezer, everything put away.
And I mean, we had many hands, but. Well, and that's what I was just thinking is like thinking back to when we started and we were trying to do 50 and it would literally take us all day. Like I'll use a little day. It would be a long, hard day. And so for those of you guys who are just getting started, a little glimmer of hope, especially if you're working with kids, as they get older and they get capable, all of a sudden it goes fast.
and you get lots of work done really quickly. Yeah, and it's exciting though because that these chickens are actually going to three households now. Right. So our household and our eldest son who's married's household. And then as part of our daughter, our eldest daughter. second in the line, who's getting married here soon. And so part of their wedding gift. And is it brand new news? I guess it is news here. That's right. So our eldest daughter, Rachel.
She's second in line as far as her second child, and she's engaged. Yay. Yay. Very excited. Really excited about this. And I guess that's the other thing that's on the what have I been doing list and what have you been doing list is we're now planning a wedding here on the property for this fall. So we're really excited about that.
Very excited. But it's also with that, thinking about you and I's vision for so long, and I know we probably can't go too long here, but we're seeing the integration and the cooperation of the next generation. Yeah. As we're working together, even just right here in that moment. And I really took it in during the day and think about coming into this conversation, but it really is now the integration we're working together, but we're providing for more than one household. Yeah.
And that's been part of the vision that we've had. hoped from 20 years ago yeah to grow and to build and and we're seeing it come to light it's very exciting that's very cool it is very very neat yeah yeah it's really fun yeah that's it we've got farm to table coming up so we're getting prepped for that
For those of you that don't know, we do a down-to-table meal here to support all the local producers and bring people together on the homestead and just have a wonderful meal. And getting ready for a trip is our... Third in line, second son, is getting ready to go to Mexico for a missions trip as he's stepping out into adulthood. So getting ready to do a road trip with him, get him down there and kind of send him off. So lots of them.
Lots of big stuff, actually, even though we're in summer lull. Yeah, it makes me think, you know. Those of you guys who are parents probably identify with this, but back when we were just having our first babies, I remember this thought of, oh, when... When the first one gets a little older, it'll be easier or it won't be as busy.
And then somewhere in there, I thought, oh, when this next thing happens, it won't be as busy. Then I thought, oh, when the kids start driving, it won't be as busy thinking that people will be able to go do chores and errands.
At every single step of the way, each of those milestones actually just makes it more busy. Like it brings on busier because they're doing more things and people are spreading out further and then you're taking, keeping track of other people's schedules. You know, I kept thinking that, I guess I learned. very slowly sometimes because here I am still thinking that when they become adults.
It'll it won't be so busy. And I'm like, oh, no. Now we're keeping up with trips and weddings and grandbabies and all these different things. And it's actually bringing a lot more dynamic sense to it. So so I give up on the. I think busy isn't going to happen. I think busy is good. It's how we approach busy and it's walking in the seasons. There are seasons of busy, but it's not.
¶ ForJars
always always always busy there are other seasons and um just jill winger's email to give a shout out wasn't so much about family but you shared with me the other day and just The seasons of balance and imbalance and, you know, living in the seasons that are busy, yet living in others. She didn't go on to that side so much, but relishing the other side. Yeah. It's just life.
And we're doing life and it's good, good stuff. It is good. Busy or not. We all daydream of it being this perfect, tranquil, quiet. And the reality is we need to sink in and enjoy the big, full parts. You know, create space for and sink in and enjoy those quieter moments. But we'd get bored. At least you and I would. I would definitely get bored. Yeah. After a few weeks of not so busy. Yeah. I would get bored. A month sounds good right now.
Two months, something like that. Don't see that coming anytime soon. All right. We better move on. We got plot to cut. And we need to say thank you to our sponsors today for helping bring this to you guys. And that is. four jars. So here on the homestead we're always thinking ahead.
¶ Cost of Raising Chickens for Eggs
Hopefully. We're trying to. Whether it's putting up the harvest or making sure our pantry is well stocked for whatever might come. And that's why I love using four jars. Their line of vacuum sealers. is perfect for preserving freeze-dried foods and sealing up all kinds of projects in bags or jars. You know, jars are my absolute favorite. I'm not crazy about back and seal bags. Occasionally, they do have their places, though.
You know, you need to travel. You don't want to take your jars with you. So they're really good places. And yeah. They're simple. They've got great, reliable tools. I really like them. They've been a great company for us. Yeah, and you can get 10% off right now your first order with the code HOMESTEADINGFAMILY10.
at four jars i assume that's dot com but we'll make sure there's a link for you down below and i really appreciate the work that four jars is putting in to help us all have good equipment that we can rely on and For the homescale use. Yeah, for the homescale use. Absolutely. Cool. All right. Some questions. Let's see. A question for you. What is your preferred breed?
Of chicken. Oh, that's the post that we were putting it on. So what exactly is the savings when raising chickens for eggs? That is a wide open question. I'm going to start with it depends. and i'm going to try to be quick about this because it's a conversation in and of itself um exactly isn't isn't the word here there is no exactly it really depends on what you're doing if you even get any savings um if you're trying to get savings from the cheapest
eggs you can buy at the store at home, you're going to have a tough time doing that. The industrial factory wins, okay? And they've got efficiencies that we just can't do. Now, if you're trying to have good quality eggs... that are healthy, that are raised well, that are good for you, then you can definitely do that at home. And it's going to depend on how you raise them again.
are you going to raise them with the most expensive feed for the highest production you can get? You can do that and you can do it well organically, really, really well. Is that going to save you much money? You've got to just do the cost analysis. Depends on how much the feed costs. Now, you want to raise chickens and feed them the scraps from the table, the scraps from the garden. Supplement a little bit with some good organic grains.
¶ Main Topic
Maybe you've fermented, maybe not have quite as high a production. You're going to save money. how much you're going to have to do the cost comparison. But yes, you can definitely save money. And then if you really understand that that chicken does more for you than just gives you eggs in that chicken can say fertilize your garden with her manure if you move her around well. So now she's providing. fertilizer for you? How much is that going to save you?
So exactly how much? I don't know. I can't tell you how much you can save. And sometimes you're not saving anything. And sometimes we just say, for some people, it's the value of the good quality food that I'm getting that's being raised well, that's good.
for the environment that's not contributing in the industrial system and all the pollution and degradation that goes on there from those eggs. And we're happy with that, even if it's a break-even or a little more expensive. But with smart thinking, you can do both. You can do all that and get a high quality egg for low cost. But you've got to put these pieces together in your situation to make it work to find out exactly how much you save. There you go. Good answer.
I think we're running a little tight, so let's just go ahead and jump back to the same topic here. Sounds good. You know, it's hot outside. And you're not the only one who's feeling it. Your plants are feeling it too. And when you walk outside, you have those moments where your zucchini looks more like a wet blanket, kind of totally wilted. And you want to cool your plants down here in the heat of summer.
The best way to do that is usually to get some water. Make sure that it has enough water to be able to transpire and do all the things it has to do. Just go get a box fan or a little fan and a mister. What about an... air conditioning. Maybe you could get a movable air conditioning unit for your zucchini. They should do it for their chickens. Sorry. Well, this is done. I wondered. I'm like, we're done with this one. Here, let's get that out of the way. So your plants are heat-stressed.
And they're desperate for water. So what are you going to do short of keeping your sprinkler on all the time? That's not practical. That's not reliable. We can't do that. We're going to run through too much water for one, but it's just not something we could do. So how do we take care of our... plants in that scenario all right well heat of august you've got seven tips here today for you i think we're trying to be all organized that's the paper thing you know it's good um so seven tips
Seven tips. All right. So the first one, and this is one that we have used often. Now I've got to say. We've lived in many different areas of the country. We've gardened in different areas of the country. One of them was in the high desert of Southern California where it was hot and it was dry. And when I say dry, I mean like...
Sometimes we were down in the single digits of humidity. It was so dry that everything would dry out like almost instantly. And so gardening in an environment like that is... adds additional challenges because the heat and the dry. Now, you know, these same tips will work in other places too, but I think we could barely have gardened without this first one when we were in California. We tried to garden.
But mulching in order to retain moisture is just absolutely essential, especially if you live in those dry climates. Yeah. that mulch covers the ground and it just holds moisture in and tempers the soil temperature and really just stops evaporation more than anything to mulch well you need at least three to four inches more between three to six depending on what you can afford
And, um, you know, you can use a lot of different things for mulch. If you, if you can't do three to six inches, do what you can, but you know. So you could use cardboard as a base level. Certainly you can use straw if you can find it unsprayed. Be careful about hay because you could get grass seeds in there. Wood chips, wood shavings, wood sawdust, not so much.
Really makes a hard pan and can almost get a film on it and resist water when you do go to some of our next steps. But make sure you mulch. I want to give just a couple cautions on the mulching, which is that, one, if you have ground that's already dry, it's already been hot August, you haven't mulched yet, and it's kind of dry.
And then you go put mulch on top of it. You are going to have to water and water and water and water in order to really soak all that water in. To water first. Water first. Make sure you get that really, really nice and wet. We'll go back to this one. Okay. And so with that is deep watering, not shallow water. This is one of the biggest mistakes that people make and they feel like they're watering a lot because they're watering every other day.
or every three days, or every day. And then they wonder why their garden is dry, because they're watering it kind of like a lawn for like 30 minutes, 40 minutes. And what happens is that water gets down just a little bit, but then it's not getting down deep into the soil. And so the soil below starts to dry out even if you scratch the surface and you go, oh, it's moist. It's working okay. So you want a deep water, which is to water less often, but...
to water longer and give that water time to soak well down into the soil so that your soil stays moist. You'd rather have it dry out on the top a little bit. and stay moist down below than the reverse which is what happens to people so always do a little finger test or spade test every once in a while in the heat of the summer and make sure that your watering is actually getting all the way through and you're not getting a dry layer in between the top
and down deeper. The other thing that deep watering does is it encourages the plants to grow nice deep roots and grow their roots way down in. So it gives them a lot more access to more water rather than just having these shallow roots. And then that top... part of your ground dries out much more quickly. So you want those deep rooted plants that really can reach out for the water that they need in the soil. Absolutely. So you should be looking at watering, like give some guidelines there.
We water once a week, you know, and it gets fairly hot here, but it's certainly not, you know, not not dry, dry. So you may get to twice a week, but I wouldn't do much more than that. I'd water again less. and and much deeper okay yeah all right good long water so we want to talk about drip air aggregation as a way to use less water and to get that water right where you want it to go So that can both save you money on water.
And you can locate it close to where you want, which should be out from the plants a little bit, not just like right centered on the plant itself. So those roots, you encourage those roots to come out and get the watering.
The thing with drip irrigation is, especially over mulch, is it can be hard to tell how much water you're giving. When you overhead water, you can set out a bucket and set something out, catch the water and go, okay, I'm getting about an inch, which is, you know, average garden needs about an inch per week. more if you're in a, you know, high dry, high evaporation environment. That's hard to tell with drip.
So you've got to be diligent about, you know, especially when you're setting the system up, checking your soil and making sure that you're getting enough water. Digging down deep enough to make sure that- To make sure that that drip irrigation is really getting in there because it's putting the water on at a slower rate as well. You know, so if you're overhead water and you might get it done and, you know, if you're.
less often deeper you know you're going to water four hours eight hours depends on your system um drip you probably have to go a lot longer to make sure that because the volume is coming at it more slowly yeah sure okay Overhead your water, your plants once in a while, even in a dry environment, because they get dusty, they get dirty, and they need to breathe to do photosynthesis well and to...
transpire. And to have that whole interaction, they do need to breathe. So once in a while, you know, where you may be so hot and dry, you want to drip, but once in a while, overhead water them and clean them up. Oh, water harvesting. Start saving your own water. You can actually save a lot of water, whether you're talking water barrels in your garden, whether you're talking ponds is even a bigger thing, right? Like that's a great way to be saving.
larger amounts of water. Hatching the water on your land. You can also do swales or berms that when you get, especially if you're in a dry environment, you tend to get a lot of water infrequently all at once. Set your land up to catch that water and soak it in. That can help a lot. Now, we're talking a lot about watering, but another thing that you need to think about is some historical methods of gardening.
And we remember driving around in Mexico in a very dry, arid, you know, area and seeing people dry farm. grapes and watermelons yeah these watermelons were this was in august so right what we're talking about right here in a very hot dry area they were like in rows 20 foot apart and the plants were around 15. feet spaced per plant um middle of august they were green lush and doing well and they weren't even mulched
And they didn't have the material for mulching in that area, but they were thriving. They were just spaced. You need wide spacing. And so if you're in a dry area and you've got more land, you can spread your plants out a bit and that will allow those roots to grow and go. water if you're doing, you know, some of these other things. So a lot of times these days we're focused on tight spacing and maximizing land, which is a great strategy as well. But you're drier, you got more space.
start to spread your plants out and it gives them more room, less competition, as it were. Yeah. Which, I mean, makes a lot of sense because all those plants are bringing up water. right they're from the ground and then transpiring it out if you have fewer plants and bigger spacing in between you just have a lot more room for each plant to go get more water from the soil so yeah and then they end up covering the ground as the heat comes so that's how those watermelon
Shading them. Well, they were huge, big watermelon plants. Yeah. And they created their own shade. Transitioning a little bit away from some of the watering methods. It's really important to be choosing the right plants for your environment and even the right type of crops. Some crops are notoriously water heavy. Think about things like lettuce. They need a lot of water, right? Some do. much better in dry environments, thinking things like beans, okra can do pretty well.
rosemary, different plants like that that don't mind a little bit of a drier environment, kind of start thinking Mediterranean-type plants. And those are the ones that you're really going to go, yeah, those do pretty well in dry, arid environments. And you'll hear this. You'll hear us say this a lot. Focus. Not that you can't grow things that are off the beaten path, but focus on what is going to do well in your natural environment.
Right now you're in the desert. You're really fighting the natural environment. But again, lean into. The thing, the types of plants that are more suited to your environment. That's just going to help you out because if you're in a low water environment and you're growing things that aren't as water needy, then they're going to do better.
Right. Makes sense. Following up with that is paying attention to the variety of the seeds that you're buying, because definitely like tomatoes, like we're in North Idaho, so we're fighting the climate with tomatoes. Right. but we're gonna buy tomato seeds where people have bred them to do well in cooler climates you can do the same
for thinking if you're in an arid climate or wherever you're at, find seeds of varieties that are going to do better in your situation. Or hot. The heat can handle heat, different things. That gives you an edge. It doesn't solve everything. but it gives you an edge. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Very good. I think it's also important to know what companies you're buying your seeds from and where they are growing their seeds. Because a lot of...
Our seed companies are actually producing seeds in the southeastern part of the United States. If that is not your area of the country, you're going to have a hard time even with the right varieties, but they've been... grown and selected in a different environment for a lot of years. So you want to try and find a seed producer that is close to your region or at least matches the struggles that you have with gardening.
And lastly, don't panic. You want to keep your plants alive, but like us, they get to feeling a little wilty. They get to looking a little wilty, especially like those squashes. They'll be okay. You'll watch that as the sun sets, they come back out. And so I think for a lot of people, they think I'm doing something wrong because the plant looks a little stressed in the bad heat. Now we all get a little stressed in the bad heat. You still want to apply all these things, but...
You also don't have to freak out and stress out. Yeah. Just help them along the way a little bit. All right, you guys. It's been great hanging out with you and happy gardening. We'll see you soon. Goodbye. Thanks for listening to this episode of the Pantry Chat, Food for Thought. If you've enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review.
To view the show notes and any other resources mentioned on this episode, you can learn more at homesteadingfamily.com slash podcast. We'll see you soon. Goodbye.