Backyard Permaculture
09-18-2008, 01:43 AM
This is the land of Apache Indians, Chief Cochise and the Renegade Apache, Geronimo, Kartchner Caverns and of the Hollywood made famous, Gunfight at the OK Corral.
I am Ron, 53 years old, Married, a 5th generation Arizonan, 3rd generation born in Arizona. Although I now live in St David, I was born and raised in Mesa Arizona as were my father and his father. It is part of the Phoenix Metro area. If you ever lived in that area, you would realize what an oddity I am. Almost no one over the age of 30 was born here, they all came from somewhere else, meaning some other State. Ironically, my brothers and sisters were also born here.
Anyway, I never liked the city. Both my grandfathers farms have long been covered by houses. I lived in country towns before, and for many years regretted moving back to the Phoenix area. Now I am back in an unincorporated country town, St David,about 2500 population, waiting for my ship to come in so I can buy some land, build an adobe house and follow in my grandad's footsteps.
By profession, I am a cabinetmaker, which I have done for 30 years. I have a shop set up, outside, under a 30' X 50' tarp stretched between 2 trees and a shed, on the concrete floor of a house that was torn down. It is probably the worst shop setup in the USA, but I have done some pretty impressive jobs here. As I told 1 customer, it isn't the shop that builds the cabinets, its the craftsman.
But my whole life I have wanted to farm. So, although I don't presently own any land, I have started, very humbly, a market garden, adjacent to my house and shop on property I rent along with my house. Behind this property, I have, with the neighbor's permission that owns that property, access to about 5 to 8 acres that they aren't doing much with, where I pasture my 2 goats, bull ( but not for much longer) calf and about 66 layer chickens with thier acompanying roosters, all in movable pens (tractors) to practice what Joel Salatin refers to as High Density, short duration grazing.
The chickens follow the goats in rotation, so that any parasites that the goats or calf may leave behind, should be cleaned up by the chickens which are unaffected by goat & bovine parasites. The ground is then left to regrow for at least a month, then can be grazed again.
The chickens are now producing 3 doz eggs a day, should increase to about 5 doz. I sell them for $2.50 doz since they are still small and medium, but will charge $3.50 when large.
Then I have thousands of redworms in my vermicomposting bins.
Plans for the future are expand my market garden, start a new fish farming project, feeding fish from the garden and the garden watered with water from the fish tank, build an incubator to begin hatching chicks to sell as chicks, started chicks, started pullets and even broilers and replacement layer flock, and hopefully soon, get bees again for pollination and honey production. At 1 time or another, I have done all of these things, while living in the city. Now I want to expand it all and do it big time in the country.
I use the solid wood waste (sawdust & wood chips) from my cabinetmaking business for animal litter, which is then composted or vermicomposted, or use it for mulch. Anyway, all that is pure wood, I save by recycling it. I collect manure from some nearby neighbors who have 2 horses, a donkey and several goats in the most meticulously clean corral I have seen, and am using it to increase the fertility of my soil.
Always lots to do. Little by little.
Nice to meet all of you. Hope to hear your comments and suggestions.
Ron
Backyard Permaculture
I am Ron, 53 years old, Married, a 5th generation Arizonan, 3rd generation born in Arizona. Although I now live in St David, I was born and raised in Mesa Arizona as were my father and his father. It is part of the Phoenix Metro area. If you ever lived in that area, you would realize what an oddity I am. Almost no one over the age of 30 was born here, they all came from somewhere else, meaning some other State. Ironically, my brothers and sisters were also born here.
Anyway, I never liked the city. Both my grandfathers farms have long been covered by houses. I lived in country towns before, and for many years regretted moving back to the Phoenix area. Now I am back in an unincorporated country town, St David,about 2500 population, waiting for my ship to come in so I can buy some land, build an adobe house and follow in my grandad's footsteps.
By profession, I am a cabinetmaker, which I have done for 30 years. I have a shop set up, outside, under a 30' X 50' tarp stretched between 2 trees and a shed, on the concrete floor of a house that was torn down. It is probably the worst shop setup in the USA, but I have done some pretty impressive jobs here. As I told 1 customer, it isn't the shop that builds the cabinets, its the craftsman.
But my whole life I have wanted to farm. So, although I don't presently own any land, I have started, very humbly, a market garden, adjacent to my house and shop on property I rent along with my house. Behind this property, I have, with the neighbor's permission that owns that property, access to about 5 to 8 acres that they aren't doing much with, where I pasture my 2 goats, bull ( but not for much longer) calf and about 66 layer chickens with thier acompanying roosters, all in movable pens (tractors) to practice what Joel Salatin refers to as High Density, short duration grazing.
The chickens follow the goats in rotation, so that any parasites that the goats or calf may leave behind, should be cleaned up by the chickens which are unaffected by goat & bovine parasites. The ground is then left to regrow for at least a month, then can be grazed again.
The chickens are now producing 3 doz eggs a day, should increase to about 5 doz. I sell them for $2.50 doz since they are still small and medium, but will charge $3.50 when large.
Then I have thousands of redworms in my vermicomposting bins.
Plans for the future are expand my market garden, start a new fish farming project, feeding fish from the garden and the garden watered with water from the fish tank, build an incubator to begin hatching chicks to sell as chicks, started chicks, started pullets and even broilers and replacement layer flock, and hopefully soon, get bees again for pollination and honey production. At 1 time or another, I have done all of these things, while living in the city. Now I want to expand it all and do it big time in the country.
I use the solid wood waste (sawdust & wood chips) from my cabinetmaking business for animal litter, which is then composted or vermicomposted, or use it for mulch. Anyway, all that is pure wood, I save by recycling it. I collect manure from some nearby neighbors who have 2 horses, a donkey and several goats in the most meticulously clean corral I have seen, and am using it to increase the fertility of my soil.
Always lots to do. Little by little.
Nice to meet all of you. Hope to hear your comments and suggestions.
Ron
Backyard Permaculture