The very essence of DIY is providing for yourselfHow do you live or aspire to succeed outside & away from the Normies, Zombies & Urbanites?what systems do you have in place? what methods are you studying? on a scale of 1-10 how would you rate your preparedness and/or your knowledge? what do you grow? what livestock do you choose? no one man can be an island, but do you produce/provide equal to, or more than you take/consume? where did you start? how far have you progressed and what are your goals?Planting season is nigh upon us. Birthing in full swing and in many cases coming to a close for the year. skies are sunny, days are growing longer and temperatures are rising.
>>2987214>self-sufficiant lol this is truly a community filled to the brim with retards
How much of a price difference for feed & seed for you to purchase at the local feed supply vs big box stores. For example 40lb sunflower seed is 30$ at the feed store vs 22$ at walmart
>>2987230OH NO! a spelling error surely invalidates all other contributions, accomplishments, skills, drive & success. better just go back to the HUD housing in the concrete jungle. is the apartment next to yours still available?>>2987233we did the price/lb calculations several years ago. Sneeds won by a mile. we buy very little pelletized 4-leg feed. 90% of their diet is lucerne hay. the remaining 10% is generally specialty feed such as mineral enriched, creep (starter) feed, medicated and/or fly guard.the sticker price was cheaper at The Mart, but they are 40lb bags whereas Sneeds is 50 to 55lb bags for just a few dollars more.
>>2987214>Self-Sufficiency, DIYmy good man this is the DIFM (Do It For Me) board we are not self sufficient.
>>2987214I am the urbanite normie and planting season is already here for the allotment. atm we have the following started or in-ground>greens: gailan, tatsoi, leaf lettuce, chard; and a shared community plot of arugula, mustard, mizuna, and whatever else folks want to plant>herbs & spices: a ton of winter-sown garlic, thai & genovese basil, chives; and a shared community plot of thyme, bay leaves, marjoram, rosemary, etc.>legumes: pole & bush beans, peas, hopniss>winter & summer squash: mini kabocha, baby butternut, & tri color pattypan>tomatoes: tomatillos, cherokee purple, sungold, a BHN slicing hybrid>peps: some superhots & sweet snack peppers>flowers: scabiosa, rudbeckia, amaranth, asters, goldenrod, golden alexander, nasturtiums, >misc: asparagus, beets, native strawberries, catmint, two types of scallions, & a small bonsai bench>to be planted very soon: lowbush blueberries, gold currant, blewit spawn for the pathingall the plants started by me, other than the currant, blueberries, asters, goldenrod and golden alexander. so far, we're harvesting some of the gailan and hoping for sideshoots. this is my first year growing it though so I don't know how it'll go. pea pods and beets are probably coming up next.my goals this year are to attend 3 local garden/agriculture/bonsai events, finish my 2nd squash trellis that I put off last season, and keep continuously filling gaps that pop up. I also want to make friends with a neighbor in a nearby house who recently got fluffy chickens, so I can give them plants to eat or some sunflower seeds later on
>>2987262Oops, didn't start the hopniss or native strawbs either. I got them from a native plant shop. the strawbs are from last year and the hopniss is new this year. cherokee purples are also from a neighbor who started too many
>>2987214One underrated aspect of self-sufficiency is medicine. You will need medical and first aid texts to read and study beforehand. You can get multiple books, but I think a low-wattage offline computer can be better, since you can have dozens of books. (Or a mix of both)My AutoDoctor (offline version) is an example of this, and it includes some medical texts you can use, though you should definitely get more texts.https://autodoctor.neocities.org/Obviously, you will also need basic supplies, bandages, stitches/wound closing devices, splints, disinfectant*, tweezers, scalpel, fever/painkiller meds, etcYou should also have another person living with you of sound mind and body that can provide aid. I broke my arm a few years ago, and it can make you into a useless cripple for several months. Depending on how self-sufficient you want/need to be, a satellite phone with a connection to a hospital is good too.*alcohol is a great simple disinfectant
>>2987262awsome, Anon. my nearest neighbors, who have 5 or 10 acre lots dont have 1/10 of what you have. you set the bar very high, not only as an urbanite, but you outperform most suburban and rural sloths.>>2987264we have a pretty solid medical library and supplies. wife does 98% of all of our veterinary care and she is capable of some pretty impressive intensive care and surgery when needed. we keep a truly impressive stock of surgical, antibiotic, sanitizers/cleaners/scrubs and gauze, bandages & general medicine. she owns several medical books on remedies & chemical alternatives as well as general holistic & obstetric approach. luckily she has not had to do much on me, aside from some stitches, debridement and general antibiotics, steroid, and muscle/skeletal pain/injury management. she set up our 3rd bedroom as a "prep room" with all her medical supply and library. it also doubles as out brooding and grow room for seed starting and spring hatch.
>>2987214>lardases that need to drive to get to the groccery store, where they need a mobility scooter to go around the isles>"self sufficient"lmao, have some self awareness, you fucking clowns
>>2987214do you have any idea how much farm animals shit everywhere and how much of a farmer/rancher's existence revolves around dealing with animal shit?are you ready to be up to your knees in liquid shit? in the winter so it's freezing on top but gooey underneath?
>>2987268Ty friend, it's my fourth year at the garden and it's become the light of my day. I started with no experience at all because I grew up in apartments. I'm impressed by how much one can learn even in a tiny space with a little bit of time and the help of a nice community + local coop extension resources. Hopefully, I can get a house nearby to upsize because I like the people and programs around here. I'd also like some chickens or ducks and bees one day.Pic related, most of our frost-sensitive sneedlings and a new balcony growbag with some veg. Sneedlings are now planted out in our ~28 m^2 plot, except for some extras that I'm sharing with folks. The growbag was a new idea to use up extra plants and has given us some good greens, despite being a bit scrawny cause it only gets about 4-5 hours of sun
>>2987296ummm... yes? im OP, also the sheeposter. so yes, familiar with shit. not a bad thing; we use it for compost to grow our gardens. our rabbits produce a "cold" fertilizer that can go straight onto plants & soil sans composing. sheep are not far behind, meaning their shit does need composting, but less so than chicken/duck/quail shit. sheep shit is not *as prone* to nitrogen burning crops. if used sparingly, it can be used without composting. all our kitchen waste gets composed as well. its the circle that feeds us, our animals and our soil.
Bought a house a some years back. First time I've had a yard in a long time. Great soil too. No need for garden beds. Went full tilt on it. Planted all sorts of shit, got some fruit trees, trellises, drip irrigation, paver boarders, the works. Even built a greenhouse out of windows I got from the ReStore for cheap.Harvested everything and, yeah, I ain't eating all that. Gave most of it away. Anyone need any tomatoes? Sure, I'll take a few. Great. Here's 6 pounds of them. Tell your friends. Colliflower the size of your head.Got a new girlfriend later and she saw the mostly disused garden. Oh, we can fix it up and just can everything! Oh, really (I canned shit as a kid and remembered how much of a PITA it was)? Yeah! Okay, sure, all you though. She did it once. Took her a fucking week and a half after work and full time on weekends to can everything. Complained the whole time. She didn't last anyway. Don't get in a relationship with a much younger chick even if the sex is good. They are just children in adult bodies and don't understand any of your references. Tried to educate her but she spent almost the entire run of the Goonies on her fucking phone. Don't need that tiny titty energy in my life. Still have some of the canned veggies. She didn't want to take any when she left.The fruit trees are doing well. The birds love the cherries, figs, and plums. I manage to save enough from them for my own needs. I'm up to my fucking nuts in lemons, grapefruit, and tangerines though. Problem is, everyone out here has a citrus tree. You can't give these things away. I don't even like grapefruit but it was a package deal from the nursery and it is a pretty tree in bloom. Bees love it too.I do grow a few good sized pumpkins for Halloween every year. No trick or treaters though. No kids in the area. Just old people. No one with kids can afford this neighborhood even though the houses are small. The lots are 'big' (½-¾ an acre) and the land is what makes buying expensive.
In addition to our food self-reliant production, we also farm 80%-115% of our own solar power. we have 6890w PV, 20.5kWh of LiFePO4 battery storage and a 12kW hybrid inverter. we are grid connected but DO NOT export surplus power back to the grid. we store it or throttle it if the batteries are full. I'm not subsidizing The Grid for 4¢ on the dollar. FUCK THAT, I'd rather just "dump it in the lake."Picrel: right side is full 24hr yesterday, left side is current today, so far. very cloudy outside. set to clear in the next hour or two.total cash investment up-front: ~$17.5kafter rebates: $11.5k actual cost.no loans, no interest. we dont do debt. when we save up enough, we will expand again. my primary focus is another 5kwh battery, secondary would be adding another 3k-4k panels. I will likely have to choose one or the other depending on how much we can save in the next 8 months.
How do I start switching from urban tech slave to self-sufficient sheep farmer? I'm sick of this industry and I like yarn. How much land do I need? Can I do it as one person or do I need to find someone to help out? How much money does it take to get started?
>>2987427do you live beside a data center or something because this seems like a terrible use of 10 grand+
>>2987440how: develop skills, buy tools, live debt free, buy land & livestock.how much land: for sheep i would reccomend 5acr min. you can do on less, but it gets cramped. flies, smell, wear on land, loss of *your* use of land vs sheep using it exclusive. can you do it alone: yes, but that depends. we have between 5 and 12 sheep (including lambs) throughout the year. Ours are dairy sheep, so that means milking, feeding, medical, moving, posturing, guarding, etc. i have a farmwife who does 90% of that. I build enclosures, fencing and repair shit they break. it would not be effective for me to try to do our version by myself while still earning income as a tradeworker away from farm 8+hrs/day. on top of sheep, she also does rabbits, quail, ducks, chickens, gardens, seed starting, veterinary, house cleaning, food prep, cooking, laundry etc. gotta look at the whole homestead picture, inside and out. it's a lot. we also have a trained guardian dog on duty 24hrs.cost: our 10 acres was $60k. house build was $188k. water well $15k. additional infrastructure we have built ~$15k in supplies but DIY labor. solar cost is above. then tools and consumables another $20k many of which is already had from my tradework background.for refrence single income household $65k/yr>>2987456no. I just like being able to flush my toilet, refrigerate my food and run HVAC when others cant. the $35/mo electric bill is a bonus.
imagine having no bills and slaughtering sheep in the dust bowl for sustenance and still having to work 40 hours a week lmao
>>2987463yeah, living in a crime ridden, concrete government housing complex is definitely superior to being 20 min from the mountains, living on my own terms, providing for myself.self respect, independence and personal drive is stupid.
>>2987468idk if shooping the patagonia mountains into your desert trailer tract while crying about low income housing is conveying the message you think it is
>>2987474>shopping photographummm no. its not shopped and anyone with eyes can tell. run it through whatever nerd software you want, all it will do is confirm.picrel of our brick and mortar house. your projection and misery have no effect on my real world. you should just try to improve yourself, rather than trying to put others down.
>>2987482>projection>putting others downironic in the thread about "everyone is beneath me and an apartment dwrlling criminal"
>>2987458Thanks for the reply. Is your farm completely self-sufficient as in even if you stopped the trade job you could still survive, or do you need that income? Do you sell the farm products or just use them yourself? What kinds of things does your wife need to do every day? My mom keeps chickens and they mostly take care of themselves, I don't know how much I'd want to bother with quail/ducks/rabbits. That sounds like a lot. I have a bunch of money saved up, but committing to this would mean I'd have to leave the job (or more realistically, I pick it up after I get laid off and start with a big garden and worry about livestock later) so I'm pretty concerned about the finances and ability to go at it alone. I don't really have anyone who'd go into this with me barring great depression-level inability to get a job, and that would probably mean moving home to help out my parents first. So the most rational thing to do is to stay in place...but with everything going to shit, being self-sufficient sounds like a really good hedge against the future.
>>2987548>>2987548we are not totally self-sustaining. we buy feed; chickens/ducks during the winter, sheep most of the year. rabbits are basically sneed-dependent. if we had complete pasture fencing the sheep could be 80% grass fed. we are woeking towards fencing the entire pasture, but our debt-free approach takes time. we only moved out here 3 years ago in June. we started in suburbia back in 2014ish with gardens and chickens. we did raise a berkshire hog to butcher at old house, but that was pushing it. my income is required. house/land is 70% paid off. our suburban house was totally paid off. we sold it and applied 100% to new homestead mortgage on year 1.this was/is a lifetime project. I lived extremely frugal since I was 21. bought suburban house in 2004. paid off in 2019. i/we did travel and vacay, but did so on budget with cash. once we are now married to the homestead. somone must always be here. if she visits family, I stay. my family is local. we have retirement savings ($106k) and emg fund, but we live lean, relying on our production. I am 45, wife is 39.you don't have to do it all. choose a level you are comfortable with. dont get overwhelmed. we do our version because it makes us happy. we sacrifice a lot in exchange. my truck is 26yrs old. we dont "go out" or eat at restaurants. we wear/use things longer than most. we repair, rather than replace lots of stuff. our house payment is $705/mo (built 2023) land is $558/mo. they should be paid off in about 15yrs. life will get a little easier, more relaxed then. our house is our main luxury. it was custom designed and is SHTF redundant. it is also very nice. NET worth is somewhere around $400k. we are NOT rich in money, but are rich in life. our estimated Retirement fund combined with gvt senior benefits will afford us a comfortable retirement. when we get to old and crippled to farm, we will stop the labor side. when we get too crippled to live on our own, we will sell it for end-of-life care.
>>2987587What job do you do that allows you to live out there while being able to actually afford anything? When I lived in the sticks there was fucking nothing for jobs. The local fast food places had stacks of applications every time a single job opened up. When they built a Tractor Supply they got something like four thousand applications. The whole county only has 15k people.
>>2987268That's pretty good, better than I thought. You clearly have put more thought into this than most
>>2987589>>2987590I work in construction and maintenance. our homestead is in BFE. I drive 30 miles to work in a medium-sized town. there is actually a larger sized city about 25 miles from our house, but we only go there occasionally. we rarely leave the farm except for when i go to work or Sneed's.
>>2987587>debt free approach>2 mortgagesI don't think its working
scallions and pea plants are finally bulking up, almost to the top of the tepee. this weekend, we'll be fixing up the edging, planting out the berries, and working on an a-frame trellis for summer squash>>2987548you could always start with a small garden and maybe some form of composting. If you don't have the space, maybe you can find an allotment/community garden with plots for rent or a place with a balcony/outside area that'll get some sun, anything you can maintain by yourself while developing good skills for later.gardening got me branching out into more stuff like basic woodworking out of necessity, since buying good trellises, cold frames, or any structure is a scam or nearly impossible. it also got me into seed starting, worm bins, and composting. saves me decent money on groceries
>>2987601there is "good debt" (appreciating assets: Land Foundation Built Houses) and then there is BAD DEBT: (anything with wheels or motors, credit cards, personal loans, unsecured debt, student loans, store cards/charge accounts, gambling debt, stock/investment debt, payday loans, etc)knowing the difference between "good" and "bad" debt is a giant part of what is missing from society. understanding how to *properly* use good debt is how you build wealth. by stick-built-on-foundation house and land will NEVER lose value. since it is already 70% paid off we have enormous equity in it. mortgage on house is 5.12% with 27 years left on a 30yr term. land loan is 1.5% with 11.5yrs left on a 15yr term. together they are worth ~400k. we owe about $145k at a combined interest rate less than inflation. it also provides a roof over our head, food on our table, electrical power, security and seclusion from a failing system.in most financial literate circles, home debt (trailerhouses excluded: wheels) if the only debt, is still considered debt free or "debt-free phase 1". especially when its nearing 70%-75% of its value in equity.care to discuss your debt and ratios? what about your assets, investments, property(s) and offsets?
>>2987606Just curious where heavy equipment fits into the good/bad debt categories... They have engines and wheels, but should be worth more in earned income than their purchase cost over many years.I own all my heavy equipment outright, just curious as to what a financial nerd would say on the subject.
>>2987611we also own/buy all of our equipment cash up-front. we also have surprisingly little of it. we do not own a tractor. we have a 1978 craftsman 8hp rototiller that we completly rebuilt 2 years ago. my dad bought it brand new in '78. he gave it to me after we rebuilt it. we have two "lawn tractors" which are just riding lawnmower we use to pull a utility trailer or other loads around the homestead. solar system was all bought and paid for in cash, in steps. we started it in 2021, made giant upgrade in 2025, and will expand endo of this year. freeze dryer was cash purchase. livestock and highway utility trailer bought cash lots of hand tools and turn-of-century mechanical tech on our farm. we just dont do debt. when we want to upgrade or add something, we budget and save monthly until we can purchase it.
>>2987615I have a ridiculous amount of equipment. Most all of it bought used and paid for in full up front. Some of it I use every day. Some of it I bought in a state of needing repair. Some of it was bought just as backup equipment for repair or parts for my other machines.
>>2987606financially literate circles?like number go up boomers?negative equity is real and debt is debtyou could have used some of that muh scary ((( bad ))) debt responsibly to your advantage and gotten a better rate than 5.12 in 2023
>>2987619Stock investments dont shelter me from rain. I cant sleep inside of mutual funds. ETFs dont keep my food cold, and I cant relax inside of a bond.our house and land does all of that and more while also increasing in value. I never said my way was THE ONLY way. I said my way is financially sound, and has most definitely been a perfect path for us in the path and lifestyle we chose and enjoy. compare our methods to 70% of new car owners, wearing louis vuitton, Nike & eating restraunt food 5 days a week, while carrying $150k in debt ad a combined interest rate of 20%I promote good financial habits.
Going to try to make black soil this year. Already have a good pile of compost from last year, just need to amend it with some pottery chips.
>>29874567kW in panels with some battery should save you about 1k a year, 11k is not terrible investment in that regard. It's also not fantastic, but you do get some amount of grid independence in addition to the eventual ROI.
>>2987602our garlic bed is looking nice. dont have any pictures, but we grow about 10 varieties. Russian inferno and armenian red are two of my favorites. they are INTENSE. our onions are starting to perk up, but ibwas hoping for a lot more activity by now. onions have been in ground for about a month. we just set a few more trees. a weeping American persimmon, 3 mulberries (free from work) some hybrid willows, and a desert willow for decor. we set 3 new elderberry plants, and two jujubee trees. there are some other ornamental shrubs and whatnot, but nothing worth listing for food. wife keeps putting off the ground cover greens and roots, so I guess those will just have to be a fall planting. >>2987627our compost game has been falling behind. lots of good components, but i just haven't had time to build a proper mesh fence to hold it, so the birbs keep scattering it. luckily, we have a backlog from last season and we get constant rabbit mix that we can use without composting. >>2987636looks like we will offset $1650 - $2000 in electrical bills this year. this is our first year with the new array and batteries. we went from 2440w PV AND 300Ah FLA TO 6890W PV and 20.48Wh LiFePO4. our usage so far is down about 85%. bills went from $160-$190 to $35-$55. by my napkin calculations, im looking at about 7 year ROI. that said, it was never about saving money or saving the planet. its about having resources when others don't.
>>2987638This was my first year with garlic and I'd love to grow more varieties, but they come in such huge packs on my usual seed sites. People around me don't really like the delayed gratification for some reason, so it's hard to find other gardeners to split packs with. it's crazy to me cause I like having some green in the garden in the winter/early spring. I looked into those two varieties and might try Russian Inferno next year. Keene garlic seems reputable and actually looks like it has smaller packs available, thankfullyI have done awful planting cover crops the past few years lol. I want rye/vetch coverage for winter, but I do it way too late in the fall. it ends up shitty/spotty til everything starts sprouting in spring again, after planting out. gonna try earlier this year, then just try to keep myself entertained by building some neat stuff for next year. I have a roll of 6 mil greenhouse plastic and am planning for a tiny greenhouse cabinet, which would be a godsend to not have to rely on hardening off on my balcony as much
>>2987638>>2987641On the topic of medicine, garlic is great because it contains allicin, a natural antibiotic/antifungal/antiviral compound
>>2987641alternatively, something like this instead of a cabinet (but with shelves for seedlings instead) would be such a flex. I'd probably do slightly smaller in terms of length/width, but man... I wouldn't mind sacrificing some grow space
>>2987644very similar in design to our portable duck coop. we even talked about covering it with solar tarp and using it for greenhouse if/when we dont need it for ducks, periodically..... doubtful because we always have more ducks than space, but hey, you never know.
>>2987646that's adorable! the bike wheel(?) adds character. it also turns out the supplier accidentally sent plastic that's like 2.3x the size of what I ordered, so maybe it's a sign
Anyone make bulk biochar? Have a shit ton of trees and brush and considering getting into making charcoal out of it to mix with wood chips and manure and amend the fields...
>>2987677i/we have not really made biochar on purpose or with specific gardening intent. we do use our ash and left over, cooled coals innour garden and sometimes it gets thrown in the compost. we already have very alkaline soil, so we dont use a ton of what we generate. our 2 wood stoves are our primary heat source, so we easily generate 50X what we need.im honestly still not clear on actual PH effect when used in an area predisposed to alkaline soil. I know that historically sodium hydroxide for soap making was collected from hardwood ash, so it seems like a valid concern. we have been talking about trying to use our ash for soap for 2 years. she does make our soap, but has been buying most of her supplies. we have not yet collected our own lanolin, we have bees, but have not used their wax either. as stated above, we are only 3 years into the new land and we already have so much that *needs* doing, we have to pick and choose where we invest our time, resources and money.
>>2987698You're not supposed to let it burn to ash. You're supposed to make charcoal and then pre-load it or innoculate it with nutrient dense stuff and it will slow release those nutrients out over time as well as add organic material and carbon into the ground. Too much ash is not good for the ground around here either. I also have alkaline soil that is mostly blow-dirt and silt and it needs more organic material. >we have to pick and choose where we invest our time, resources and money.I hear ya. Only so many hours in each day.
What is this paranoid prepper urge to dox themself online?
>>2987474>patagonia mountainsLooks about eastern front range Colorado as it gets to me...
>>2987821home of the world's most gigantic power lines
someone just give me a mega-torrent of all homestead/prepper books already.I've got solar panels and tablets at the ready to always be able to read them.
we went to town today, picked up a crepe myrtle, vitex, Chinese pistache. we also grabbed to Corsica mint plants (a small spreading ground cover) and another rosemary. we have been hardening off all of our seed started tomatoes, peppers, tomatillos, basil, yarrow, toothache plant & holy basil.we will start planting them in the beds this evening and tomorrow.
>>2987824holy KEK
>>2987262planted the lowbush blueberries out but unfortunately the vendor i pre ordered from forgot to bring my gold currant and theyre out of state. oh well! also got some rudbeckia triloba & fulgida, native bluebell & swamp milkweed. excited to see how everything goes and am heavily considering not pinching blooms on the blueberries because theyre so prettyI procrastinated testing the soil til it was raining every other day and already a few days away from pick up, but other gardeners say were generally around 6.0-6.5, so I amended with a bag of peat and I watered that spot with some fertilome acidifier/iron a week or two ago. Hopefully it's not overkill. gonna pray and send in a test after it dries out a bit
>>2987855I want to plant a toothache plant so bad just because they look nice. I love the ones with the red dot, no space this year for sure though
after a full day of planting and being ware of where we grab & step, I had called it a day. I went in to take a shit, had just dropped some timber when my wife called me on the phone. "GET OUT HERE, RABBIT WARREN, BRING YOUR GUN!" I am always armed, whether on or off the farm. but at the time, I had my pants around my ankles. I knew exactly what the issue was. I wiped my ass but a single swipe, and bolted to the livestock area. opened the warren, pinned that fucker with a shit scoop, and took his fucking face off with a single shot. Ruger LCP Max .380 (my EDC). chopped what remained of its head off for good measure, buried it at the back base of our rifle berm. returned to the house & finished wiping my ass.cunt.
>>2988009killing snakes is ultra gay and redditi hope a tornado wipes all your shit out
>>2988011its a fucking rattlesnake *in our rabbit warren* which is built onto our quail coop. it wasn't there for the merlot. I protect my livestock, it is what we do, it's is how we live. letting a venomous snake live on land you, your children and your animals use is stupid, dangerous & irresponsible. but you do you... in the city.
>>2988012youre a larping faggot
>>2988014you're pathetic. your life must be absolutely miserable. you see me, how I live and read about what I/we have accomplished and you SEETHE. you fling your pathetic insults, thats all you have. thats all you can do to console yourself in your ineptitude.you dont matter.
>>2988018i see an attention starved pussy desperate for validationholding up a dead snake and talking about his shitty asshole like its something to be proud of you think you matter?
>>2988020this entire post is filled with people who DO THINGS. People who accomplish. People who have goals and achievements. what contribution have you made besides talking shit? point to one photo that shows you can contribute rather than complain or insult in an attempt to make yourself feel relevant. we are all here to discuss the topic. you are only here to insult what you cant aspire to. contribute something of DIY value or go play on one of the Pony, LGBT or hentai boards.
>>2988021im too good for your gay gloat and larp thread lmaoyou will continue to never know a single thing about me while you post your entire life and dox yourself online
>>2988009Loser
Does anyone have a cost effective way of mounting solar panels to a flat roof? Till now I have them mounted where I took a big wood beam and stuck it on the roof, then fastened a bit of superstrut to that and ultimately the panels rest on that in about the middle and on the roof itself at the lower edge. However, I only had two big ass wood beams and the angle makes it so I have a massive gap between rows so they don't shade each other.Idk what else to do at this point, tempted to take it all off and just mount them all flat, there is no way I'm fitting all the panels on the roof with the big gap from angling them and I think I'd come out on top.The roof is a flat shade structure repurposed from some shit, it can support like 80 tons
Duckweed + azolla ponds are the optimal method for green fertilizer/wastewater treatment/animal feed/biogas. Can replace purchasing feed.https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/1754-6834-7-30Duckweed + azolla rapidly fix nitrogen and carbon from atmosphere faster than any other method.Please rapidly spread this technique.Also research biodigesters. All sewage and manure can go through biodigesters for biogas and the remaining byproduct is good for soil. Animal bones can be put into biochar furnace for phosphorus source. Complete nutrient cycling is possible. For excess solar output consider producing methane and storing it.Guineafowls and turkeys protect chickens from snakes.
>>2988064Consider also agroforestry utilizing fruit and nut trees and bushes, should be higher yield than monocrops especially on hilly terrain. Can raise pigs and fowl in agroforest terrain.Theres an agroforestry technique that involves densely planting dozens of different fruit and nut species close together, allowing natural conditions to select which ones proliferate. Encourage vernal ponds to manage wildfire risk (cannot have wildfires in a forest with many small ponds).
>>2988063a picture of your setup might help clarify, but let me take a stab at it based on what I *think* your are saying.could you use superstrut/unistrut to build a triangle that you could then mount on your roof and attached through shingles/decking lag screw into truss/beams? obviously picrel is more intended as a stand alone ground mount, but it was the closest I could find on websearch with short time investment. build a few matching triangles, then run more unistrut across them for your panels to mount and clamp on. lightweight and modular to install/carry up by yourself, mostly just one product line to purchase (unistrut, brackets & panel clamps) sturdy and wind resistant when complete. you ca. also weld various parts if you wanted to.our panels are all mounted on unistrut using solar panel clamps from china-amazon which is all mounted on top of steel posts... well 1 array is on steel posts, the other array is identical but I used wood 4x4 posts. 70% of the support structure was built using reclaimed construction/remodel tear-out.
>>2988068Yeah something like that pic is basically the same idea. A while back I did some math based on asec7 numbers or whatever and my area is in the 87mph class, which came out on the low end as 25psf of uplift it would have to survive, which even what I have now is questionable.Idk, I think I may have answered my question though, I generally need to go flat or at most like 3-4° to not shade the panels in the winter
>>2988064>Please rapidly spread this technique.duckweed literally wrote this post
>>2987810main characters
>>2988009>>2988012You sound like you're insufferable to be around desu
>>2988262good news: we live way the fuck out away from people. its by design. Lucky me, lucky you.people like you just confirm the prudence of our lifestyle choices.
>>2988289What is it like hating city people so much while being the embodiment of the know-it-all suburbanite wannabe farmer
>>29872142 questionsFor diy/home solar, is a bigger array more important, or bigger battery bank? Would be for the workshop, so only in use occasionally but power intensive.2nd, where does one look to find recycled/scrap glass for a small diy greenhouse? Don't want to just use shitty plastic sheets.
Thinking about using some sort of solar pump to push water up a hill to a cattle trough or maybe a tank that feeds a couple of troughs.About 80-100m, might need like 1200l a day, I figure that's like 100l an hour at around 1000-kPa.I don't know much about pumps but it feels like a pretty low flow rate for the pressure.
>>2988318really the to need to be equally balanced. that balance depends on the load sizing. if you have a small, static daytime load, then you have more watts to "overflow" into your battery for charging. but you also need to make sure you have sufficient battery storage to carry your load through the non-solar hours. in a scenario where static load is small, battery would take slight precedent because there are more non-solar hours in a day than generating hours. TLDR: you have to do the kWh usage math.>>2988340jet pumps are the "new" high effeciency option for "shallow" head pressure use. in addition to that, anything with a variable speed and soft-start is going to be key. in a somewhat non-related but adjacent answer, our 220' water well uses a Grundfos10 variable speed pump. it is totally different in start-up and constant draw compared to the classic PSI switch on/off & pressure tank systems. start up watts on ours run around 1,100w and constant flow for our large orchard(s) irrigation systems drop to about 700w steady. this is about 1/3 the start up Amps and about 1/4 thr constat draw of a similarity sized psi switch & pressure tank system.
just clipped 15 min ago. brought directly inside. made several small diagonal cuts to lower 2" of base. powdered base 4" high and bottom of cut with root hormone. set into potting soil and watered thoroughly. I (think) I know i need to remove 95% of the leaves to prevent moisture loss. I will do so, but took the photo first. this is the largest cutting I have tried so far.I have attempted to clone hundreds of cuttings over the years and have had a Ø percent success rate. I always use root hormone. I have tried removing leaves, and i have tried not removing them. I have kept them indoors, and tried out on covered porch. I have tried watering often, and watering weekly. i have tried woody cuts, and green shoot cuts. not a single one has ever taken. 90% of attempts have been prunis varities eg. Apple, pear, peach, apricot, plum, etc...what can I do to get this right?
>>2989075why not graft on established rootstock?a dead cut limb has no vigor to drive a start
>>2989082because all the living "rootstock" i have is currently attached to a living, growing tree. I am trying to get "free trees" by rooting nessesary pruning cuttings. I want to expand my orchard at low cost, not make "fruit salad trees" out of my established trees.
>>2988357lmao we name dropping water pumps now?
>>2989088>im too much of a dumb niggerfaggot to look up any books on something people have been doing for centuries.no its everyone else thats wronghttps://archive.org/details/fruittreepropaga00span/mode/2up
>>2989102moar>https://archive.org/details/the-grafters-handbook/mode/2up>https://archive.org/details/bookofpeachbeing00wardrich/mode/2up>https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/The_American_fruit_culturist_-_containing_directions_for_the_propagation_and_culture_of_fruit_trees_in_the_nursery%2C_orchard_and_garden_%28IA_americanfruitcul00thom%29.pdf?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=index&utm_content=originaland for folks with a higher density of brincells than peachanon>https://archive.org/details/PlantPropagationPrinciplesAndPacticesByHartmannAndKesters8thEdition/mode/2up
>>2989102>>2989104I know how the internet works. We all know A.I. is a thing. I own and have read plenty of literature.I came here for firsthand insight. A *human* who has done this with success who can analyze and discuss. you know.... the whole point of DIY, and 4Chan in its entirety.
>>2989110no one wants to engage with you because youre an annoying poindexter cocksuckertry reddit
>>2989110>b...bu...but i own a copy of 101 ez cheezy instapot recipes >why wont this dead stick i jammed in a pot magically sprout?wish in 1 hand...
>>2989088Have you tried planting seeds
>>2988063Welp I started mounting themI found the solution is to take some 2x4 and screw that to the roof to span the whole width, then I took some scrap superstrut and cut out a bunch of 4in long pieces which I spaced out and screwed into the 2x4 so that the panels all rest on those. Then I could use some clamps I already had to hold the panels to the strut.Compared to running the entire rail using strut I was doing, this hybrid wood and metal strut setup is significantly cheaper. It will probably go to shit in a couple years tops because rain will pool up under it and since it's shaded by the panels it will just stay there forever and rot the wood.But whatever
>>2989115LMAO JESUS CHRIST WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS GUY
>>2989153we have. there are several drawbacks though. the naturally occurring rootstock tends to be much more prone to disease, Rot amd general weakness. you have no idea what kind of fruit it will produce. clones make same quality/type as parent. open pollinated seeds often revert and produce sub-par fruit. finally, it takes, on average, an additional 8 years to reach fruiting maturity from a seed started tree. clones can begin producing in as little as 3 years. >>2989154were you able to achieve a satisfactory angle of tilt? im all about recycled and free building materials. good on you, Anon.
>>2989176>were you able to achieve a satisfactory angle of tilt?Yep, a nice solid 0° of tilt.I was planning on doing at least 4-6° but it ended up not working out in the end because I would have had to space the panels out too much and the math worked out I would overall make less power if I installed less panels but at an optimal tilt.As it sits the panels dead flat all in are 18in longer than the roof so I started with a fat overhang and I'll probably end with one too so I can have a small gap in the middle for cleaning
>>2987482Why a Mini? I have a Mini but I live in a high rise.
>>2989280we bought it over a decade ago when we still lived in the suburbs. it gets 44mpg, has less than 80k miles on it and is paid-off (we paid cash). it is sort-of a golden handcuff situation.wife likes mini-coopers. it is her one "frivolous" luxury desire. she almost never leaves the farm, so it's not really an issue anyway.
>>2989343Have you ever moved a comparatively oversized animal in it?
>>2989603Yes.150lb çoban & kuzu for 700mi.
>>2989612I get upset when a drop of water from an umbrella touches one of my seats. My mind is gone. Reject modernity.
LFP batteries apparently off hydrogen gas into confined spaces and need active ventilation. I don't know who needs to hear this, but make sure you use sensors.https://youtu.be/6LbBryib8yY?si=xxIOAWitaFTpS4cA
>>2989640LiFePO4 are sealed. under normal operation, they dont off gasses anything.FLA batteries off gass hydrogen when charging.
>>2989681https://www.mdpi.com/2313-0105/11/10/352>All lithium-based batteries produce flammable vent gas as a result of failure through thermal runaway. LFP cells produce less gas by volume than nickel-based cells, but the composition of this gas most often contains less carbon dioxide and more hydrogen. However, when LFP cells fail, they generate lower temperatures, so the vent gas is rarely ignited. Therefore, the hazard presented by a LFP cell in thermal runaway is less of a direct battery fire hazard but more of a flammable gas source hazard.
>>2989760Thermal runaway is NOT "normal operation". your own post highlits "failure" as a condition.my post stated:>under normal operation, they dont off gas anything.
>>2989804>what is fail safe
>>2989805That's what the bms is for, it is the failsafe.
https://youtu.be/Wyi2WG6p81U?si=m4U49SCTI5Q3hb55Sacramento opened a battery plant called Sparkz, but it seems to focused on data centers.
>>2989813You are exactly the person who needs to watch the posted video because the battery can have defects or the BMS can fail, it's not a fail safe.
>>2989813lmao holy shit
>>2989826you are replying to multiple people. I am not>>2989813my solar system is housed 75' away from my house inside a designated solar power equipment shed. despite that, there is still no offgassing from LiFePO4 batteries during normal operation. the shed is equipped with a fire suppression system. that system is NOT for a non-existant threat of offgassing, it is there for general electrical equipment fire risk mitigation (inverter, wiring & actual failure caused by unpredictable non-standard operation). there is *still* no risk of offgassing during normal operation with LiFePO4. BMS is there to check & mitigate anything outside of parameters. LiFePO4 is EXTREMEMLY stable and safe a far as lithium chemistry goes. it is actually the safest battery outside of sodium. sodium batteries, while safe, SUCK at charge/discharge, efficiency and voltage drop.LiFePO4 is the best of all worlds with few risks or drawbacks, even during catastrophic failure scenarios, including water exposure.all of this to say: there is no risk of offgassing from properly assembled LiFePO4 batteries, under normal operation, as they are a sealed chemistry unit, controlled by a BMS.However... since you are clearly a solar enthusiast, with firsthand knowledge, installation and use experience; please share your solar system and its specifications so that we may all benefit and learn from it and your methods in-practice.
spur-of-the-moment processing day. we've been feeding him 6 months longer than we planned. he "trapped" himself in one of the milking seperation pens with two of the ewes this morning, so we figured today was the day. our origional plan for today was to plant our main garden with tomatillos, peppers, extra tomatoes that didn't fit in our arbor garden, and all herbs. we started them from seed 2 months ago and have been hardening them off for about 2 weeks. we will start that this evening, after a bit of rest and some food.
>>2989968Is he blowing a rape whistle?
mutton tastes butt ass
>>2989984yes.>>2989987we like mutton, but this will be hogget. one month ago it would have been lamb.Hide tanning for sheepskin. unsure what it's end use will be, but we dont waste anything when it comes to our livestock and lifestyle. I fleshed it then salted it today. I will fold it in half skin side in, after a few hours. I will let it set on a drain rack over our spare bathtub for 2 days, then I will scrape again. after second scrape, I salt a second time for 48 hours. after 2nd salt, i will soak & wash in dish soap water, then allow to air dry for 24-48 hours. not looking for "dry" just not "wet". after drying, I will stretch the skin, then work the tanning agent in. for simplicity, uniform results and reliability, we use the "orange bottle" agent. after 24 hours i will stretch the skin much more to soften it and make it pliable.process is arduous and time consuming. so far we just use them as rugs. we have discussed making a vest, dizlik or some mittens for the wife. regardless of final use, good hides, leather and sheepskins are always useful around the homestead. last year I used a several to insulate our solar battery bank when it was -9° to aid the built-in battery heaters.
>>2989991>"orange bottle" agentWhat is this? I know nothing about tanning hides.
>>2989837>all of this to say: there is no risk of offgassing from properly assembled LiFePO4 batteries, under normal operation, as they are a sealed chemistry unit, controlled by a BMS.Yes, this is when the BMS is faulted or the seal is broken on the battery and from manufacturing defects you wouldn't be able to detect without destroying the battery. This is like saying water is wet.
>>2990024the origional post that all of this is in response to was:>>2989640that post insinuated that Lithium chemistry offgasses hydrogen as part of normal use and cycling. that is why each and every reply of mine has put into context that nothing is offgassed from Lithium chemistry *under normal operation*. so no, i am not saying "water is wet". I have been *repeatedly* providing context to an incorrect assessment in a specific reply post.>>2989993PicrelI have decided to switch from Orange bottle to NuTan. I just ordered a gallon of NuTan and it should arrive Tuesday. this will be my first experience with it. everything i read says it should provide a better result in all aspects. I will report my experience after the process is complete.
>>2990060>I have decided to switch from Orange bottle to NuTan. I just ordered a gallon of NuTan and it should arrive Tuesday. this will be my first experience with it. everything i read says it should provide a better result in all aspects. I will report my experience after the process is complete.Please do. I am interested in what your results will be.
>spend $2000 ish>use surplus solar energy to generate water(0.08-0.16gpm(40-80gal a day))vs>spend $8000-10000>install pipes, a tank, and a pump station to pump water from a pipeline ~1mi away(6gpm(1800gal per day theoretical)Thoughts? it's for a weekend cabin, I cant see going through that much water in a weekend. I can buffer 2500gal or so to get through the winter since it would 1/4 the production
>>2989075arborist heretake the cutting in the late winter/early spring when there are buds, as the branch wants to grow (naturally)if you are taking a branch after all the leaves have grown, it has no reason to magically just create more buds and begin growing. it is done growing, it's finished, and it assumed it is dead>why???the only times a tree will experience losing branches in nature is as follows:>branch abscissionbranch is being shaded out and is no longer able to contribute to the tree, putting more leaves on it is a waste and thus the tree decides to kill it off by enabling a carbohydrate plug at the branch attachment point, which helps seal off the area from pathogenic intrusion, a process called CODITing (compartmentalisaiton of disease in tree)>biotic factorsdisease/animal grazing/epiphytic growths/etc., this kills the tree>abiotic factorssomething falls on the branch etc., and thus the parent tree is potentially killed. the branches may want to resprout due to the chance that they have landed in an area that supports life, which can happen during windstorms etc. wherein the tree's root structures are still able to provide water and nutrient uptake. if this occurs during the late winter or early spring before bud break, it is possible that snow loading or a winter storm has dislodged branches. if the species is a strong epicormic sprouter (fruit trees are thus), then it is possible it will begin anewsince you are a gentle fellow down on his luck, you can also attempt creating root stock BEFORE taking your scion>how how howscore the green shoot where you would take the cutting normally, then place some damp sphagnum moss on the site and wrap some foil around it until roots form, then trim off and planttl;dr dont prune and plant in may you retarded faggot the tree doesnt sprout in the summertime
Anyone else use a scythe to cut grass? Good exercise and meditative work.
>>2990247Look at moneybags over here...I'm just cutting The People's Grass to survive.
>>2990249Based sicklebro. I try to feed my animals with the grass I cut, but it's more just a necessary chore turned into something a lot more enjoyable than using a weed whacker.Just imagine cutting acres of grass with a scythe as a russian serf.
>>2990247BasedI want to but i live in the suburbs and don’t have one
>>2990455Scythesupply.com. Get a short or medium length grass blade and mow your lawn with a scythe. Shorter blades cut less grass per swing, but are much easier to use as a beginner.A custom sized snath, scythe blade, and sharpening stone/holder runs around 200ish for the starter kit. Kept in good condition the kit will last you many many years.It takes a few hours of practice to get good, but once you're there it's really enjoyable work.
>>2989968that's a big sink
>>2989640>sensorsDespite being a fag, he correctly flags that sensors don't help you much because the failure event goes down fast. The solution is to place them in reasonably well vented and ideally large air-volume spaces. Also the chance of a failure like this is extremely low. You need the cooking to trigger, and you need a confined space, and you need an ignition source within the offgassing time. If you had some tremendously big blower (on a brushless motor so no sparks) and a very sensitive optical sensor, maybe you could vent fast enough, but again, chance is just tremendously low. If I was worried about this, I'd just keep my batteries outdoors.>>2990122If "generating water" is reliable, then go with that. But if it's some high-hassle, unreliable method, maybe consider the pipe.
