Personal consumption, Do you help produce some of what you use? Options

[Denise]

We all know how much we consume daily, especially when it comes to food and power.
What I want to know is how many of us produce some of the things we consume.

We use solor panels for our power and have a garden with many edible goodies. Every bit helps!
Do you hunt or raise your own meat, have a garden or fruit trees, use solor panels or a wind turbine, etc.?
We would love to hear about it!

[Arbo]

My intent this year was to add a bunch of barrels to collect rainwater, to use to water a planned raised bed garden. Money being what it is, haven't been able to buy the barrels, and transporting 'good' soil costs more than the soil. So I am going to make the boxes for the beds, and this summer work on filling it with dirt that I have dug and brought home and run through my recirc setup at home. Add some organic stuff to mix in, and should have some good growing soil for next year.

[Kevin In Centenn...]

We have solar panels too...what a good deal! We also mine more gold than we use...does that count?

We grow peaches and tomatoes, some lettuce,etc but nowhere near as much as we use.

Fun question btw

[Caveman]

We have our cabin in Westcliffe powered by solar only - 1KW 24V system, with a generator back-up. The 12 6V batteries last about a week w/o running the generator when we are down there full time for a couple of weeks a year.

Up here in Broomfield, we have cherries, blackberries, raspberries and hazelnuts, plus a large vegetable garden - corn is the main planting, but we also have peas, beets, carrots, squash and cucumbers going in this year, and maybe a tomato and pepper plant or two.

[CP]

Very cool everyone, even if we don't produce all of what our families consume, every little bit helps. Especially in years like we've had lately with the poor economy on it's supposed recovery.

Now we have a drought which they say will effect our food prices even through the meats/dairy products not just produce over the next year.

This year is only our second year for the garden at this local and we are having much better luck this year than last. Our soils here are very dense heavy sandy soils so it's been some trial and error. We've had several isolated hail/t-storms one of which actually did some damage to the garden early on but lucky for us the only thing that really got damaged was the corn and it was all under stage V-6 so we should still get full yeild from them.
We also have some carrots, beans, cucumbers, pumpkins, lettuce, tomatoes, habenaro and mixed bell peppers and some onions all of which are doing great thus far....barring anymore of the isolated storms.
Gonna' be some good salads!!

We also use solar power plus a wind turbine with 12v battery set up/inverters for power as well as a generator for days the battery bank (small) recieves no sun or we use more than is collected. But we produce 100% of our electricity used including running/up keep of this website.

Keep up the great work everyone and keep posting your production!

Get-R-Done'!

[Denise]

We have been almost overwhelmed with garden goodies, and it's not even harvest time yet.
The corn and peppers are going to produce ALOT come harvest time. Getting lots of huge cucumbers already and lots more to come. Here is a peek at our garden with Timmy looking over the corn.

[swizz]

Wow! You guys have a great looking garden this year! It looks a lot greener there too than I pictured.... definitely greener than it is here right now. Looks like Timmy has gotten taller too!
Very nice!!!!

[jim]

Nice garden Denise!! And that little boy we met a few years back ain't so little any more. lol Ya might say he's growing like a weed.

[russau]

Timmy heck! thats Mr.Tim! man-o-man he has grown! .....

[Denise]

Thanks guys, we work hard on the garden. Yes, Timmy has grown! He is almost as tall as I am (5.8) and he has bigger feet...size 11 and still growing since he's only 12. He was 4 the last time you saw him Russ. I have asked him if he would rather me call him Tim or Timothy, but he prefers Timmy still.

We are sharing some of the garden goodies with some of our neighbors. It is really hard to keep a good garden growing here with the extreme hot dry temps in the summer and the high winds....one neighbor even lost her garden to the loose running horses. We will definately share some of our garden goodies with her and her husband.

[Denise]

Pumpkins on the vine......



One of the larger pumpkins......




Bell peppers. Hard to see, but there are at least 10 peppers on this one plant. Hard to believe it can hold up so many peppers!.....

[Woody]

Ok I got to ask,

You sure there is not a snake in the woodpile somewhere? Those Pumpkins look simular to young Watermellons. Wouldn't that be funny.

[Denise]

I'm sure Woody. I have thought that thay do look alot like watermelons when they are young. These were seeds from our pumpkins last year so no mistaken seeds here. I love being able to use our own seeds also.

It will look alot different as they mature. I will give pic updates later.

[russau]

shareing is a good thing to do! when times are tuff, like it has been with most of the people, it sure helps and you will be rewarded in time! and i say thankyou for your kindness!

[Denise]

Thanks Russ, I agree! I think it is reward enough just seeing them smile though.

I don't think anyone will want any of my Habaneros though.......

[Denise]

Weather has been changing so the garden is starting to slow down and getting ready for harvest time.
I have to remind Timmy that he doesn't want to handle these peppers, as they are known to even blister the skin with contact.
I will wait till they turn orange or red before picking them unless there is an early frost.



No signs of bugs eating on this plant..
I will definately enjoy them!

[Denise]

Look out, garden invasion!
It's the all dreaded Tobacco horn worm to a farmer. Loves to feed on tobacco, potato and tomato plants. These things are nasty and eat like there is no tomorrow. They get huge, as thick as my thumb and as long as my fingers. They also have a grip from hell when you try to pull them off.




All is ok now, I'm just keeping an eye out for more. There are at least 20 tomatoes starting to ripen on just this one plant. Love those vine ripened tomatoes!

[Denise]

Time to produce and store some heat for the winter and help with some Colorado fire mitigation. This kind of heat source will heat you up several times, before you even put it into the woodstove.





Temps will be dropping to freezing at night here.

[swizz]

Yup!
It's that time of year alright. Been in the upper 20s and lower 30s here at night.
Stocking up on wood now myself.

[amorton]

Time to produce and store some heat for the winter and help with some Colorado fire mitigation. This kind of heat source will heat you up several times, before you even put it into the woodstove.





Temps will be dropping to freezing at night here.

Wow you guys have some work ahead of you. Let me know if you need any help with that I have a few gallons of saw gas I need to burn through before winter hits.

[CP]

Thanks for the offer but we have just a personal agreement with this land owner and a couple others adjacent to cut deadwood off the lots and there isn't a time frame limiting us so we'll be able to get wood here for awhile. We can't bring others on the property though as it's inside a gated mountain community with strict rules about access to non owners.

I think the FS is still selling firewood cutting permits if you need some wood though. Give the local district a call, there are many places that could use some fire mitigation just like that lot pictured. Used to be $10.00 per cord for the FS firewood cutting permit.
Watch out for mining claims when out cutting though, claim owners have first rights to that timber.

[amorton]

Thanks for the offer but we have just a personal agreement with this land owner and a couple others adjacent to cut deadwood off the lots and there isn't a time frame limiting us so we'll be able to get wood here for awhile. We can't bring others on the property though as it's inside a gated mountain community with strict rules about access to non owners.

I think the FS is still selling firewood cutting permits if you need some wood though. Give the local district a call, there are many places that could use some fire mitigation just like that lot pictured. Used to be $10.00 per cord for the FS firewood cutting permit.
Watch out for mining claims when out cutting though, claim owners have first rights to that timber.

Thank you, but no I do not need any firewood. My house right now does not even have a a wood stove or fireplace. I was just offering up help. I did a lot of volunteer fire mitigation this summer and found I enjoy cutting wood especially for a good purpose.

Andrew

[Denise]

I love this time of year! Fire mitigation is alot of hard work but well worth it. Here are a couple of pictures from a few years back. Dan would drop the trees, buzz off the brush and cut up the limbs into fire wood chunks. Then I would pile up the fire wood, brush for mulch and then load the fire wood after the truck was backed up to it. Then Dan would strap the log to the back of the truck and we would pull it to the log pile, then unload the firewood...then back out for more. We did this for several months. By the time we were done, the land owner had PLENTY of firewood and over 50 logs for future building.







It's amazing what one can accomplish and produce with some hard work. He also has some beautiful land after it was all cleaned up. He was very pleased with our work!!

[Denise]

Wood is our only source of heat so we make sure we have plenty. Once it's home there is still lots of work to be done. Time for chopping, but I love it!! It all brings back memories of working deep in the Michigan woods.

Trying to beat the frost at night in the garden is not as easy with just a big tarp.......

[Denise]

I love that picture of Dan standing next to the logs. We make a good team and can definately "Git-R-Done!".

No holdig back the frost but I did save a Habanaro and a bell pepper plant to bring inside. We also got about 50 ears of corn....mmmmmmm!
Have about 70 large green tomatoes now that we had to pull early. Shame the guys don't like fried green tomatoes.

Here are some monster Yukon Gold potatoes that a local farm grew here and shared with us. One would feed 3 people!

[burrell]

I didn't see anyone with garlic. I,ve grown it here severals years. Apheds put me out of growing for awhile. Ordered the seed clove from Filaree or felaree spelling? in Washington. I'll look around here for an old catalog and post info on them. I think all of the sub species will grow in your climate. I have to have a warm type for here so i'm limited to what we can grow. They have the seed cloves for anything from cool and mild to hot and spicey. We prefer the hot and spicey. Study the shelf live and you may be able to reseed every year with your cloves. Once you grow you onw you'll have a real hard time buying China grown garlii

[burrell]

Its Filareefarm.com Some interesting reading also if you like garlic.

[Denise]

Great garlic link Burrell! We don't have any garlic in our garden yet, but this is just the second year for this garden and it's still growing. Next year we may grow some though.

Here is a picture of a "Baby carrot".

[swizz]

3 cords stacked tight... just need to tarp it. Another 1/4 cord leftover from last year already inside.
I'm ready!

[Denise]

Sweet Chris! Looks like you will be warm this winter.

[Denise]

We are still working on firewood but it's coming along nicely. Timmy carved the 3 pumpkins that grew, and the seeds we didnt keep for next years growing was salted and fire roasted. After enjoying the carved pumpkins, we diced them up to be made into pumpkin pies and pumpkin nut breads.

[Denise]

It has been REALLY cold lately!!
Winter has just started and we have burned through (easily) 3 cords of wood already.

[russau]

my personal consumption depends if im with Leonard or not!:)

[Woody]

You know it is cold when........

You open your fridge , take out a drink, and wonder if it is working because it feels too warm!

[russau]

Woody, it sounds like its time to move that fridge off the front porch and back into the house! HAHA

[leonard]

my personal consumption depends if im with Leonard or not!:)

Russ and I have been known to do a little consumption.
Leonard

[Denise]

Sounds like with all that consumption, you and Russ should start to produce/make some apple wine from those sweet apple trees you have Leonard.

Still burning through the wood, was - 27 last night.

[Coalbunny]

I hear ya Denise. Man, it's awful here. Gets much colder people are gonna keel over in the streets.
Bone chilling +23F right now. Had a horrible storm last week, dumped a horrifying 3" on us! All of life came to a stand still!

[Denise]

Carl, good to hear from you. That's not too bad, our neighbor told us the other night that it was -36. Warming up nicely to a -11 now.

[russau]

perfect time to make ice cubes!!:)

[Denise]

The only kind of ice cubes I would make outside are the decorative type.
If you fill a balloon with water and add food coloring like red or blue, tie the baloon shut and let it sit outside overnight. The next day remove the balloon from the ice and you will have colored ice that looks like huge colored marbles. Wala! You have just produced natural colorful yard decorations. Looks really cool when you make a bunch in different colors.........the kids really love them!

[Denise]

Have you produced anything you use lately?

[Denise]

Winters heating bill is covered (paid for) and sitting in the yard now. Just in time, snowed last night and temps have been down in the 20's at night.

[swizz]

That's a good feeling, nice work yous guys!
I made a barter for wood and should be all set with 3 cords for this winter in my humble abode.
I don't mind winter.... just wish it wouldn't last so dern long.

[CP]

Thanks Swizz, yep it does feel good to get the wood piled up in the yard rather than cutting in the snow. We'll still be getting at least another chord (shooting for 6 chords) to top off the 5 chords we piled up so far here. Pulled another 2 chords down for the nieghbors already as well as about a chord of "yard wood" for decorations and instant cat trees etc.
That's about 8 chords so far this year.....WHEW! No wonder I'm tired after wood days!

Now it's just chop chop........ got about 2 chords split and stacked with the handy ol' Michigan bit axe. and I still can't find that dang off switch for the heater on the axe handle or the chainsaw!

[swizz]

... got about 2 chords split and stacked with the handy ol' Michigan bit axe.

That's a heck of a workout. A few years ago I bought a Fiskar Splitting Axe and never looked back. It's lighter and has a really good built in wedge design.
"Chords"... does this mean you're whistling while you work?

[CP]

Yepper always, gotta' have tunes and I guess I should practice word usage too.......
Might have to check out a Fiskar axe in the future but the ol' Michigan bit is the tool on hand for now.....and yes, it can be a work out for sure! For the most part though we can split with that no problem. For the super knotty problem hunks we also have the trusty sledge and wedge combo near by!

[Denise]

Thanks Chris! Good job on having the firewood for the winter also. You guys crack me up!

If I could choose something for helping split the firewood, it would be something like this dandy machine.


"AUTOMATIC VERTICAL WOOD SPLITTER"

For now I will just use the axe.

[MikeS]

I have a YouTube channel with some videos on wild edible plants found in the Denver area and the Rocky Mountains. I didn't make any new videos last year but I plan to shoot more this year. If I can find the time I want to add other survival info like primitive fire making, primitive pottery, shelter building, water purification, bow/arrow and tool crafting.
https://www.youtube.com/user/ColoradoSurviv...grid&view=0

[Denise]

Sweet videos Mike!!! Wild onions are great, we use to have Leeks in Michigan. The best onions I think. Looking forward to your new videos, thanks for sharing with us.