13 Skills

The garden this summer in July. Next years should be more impressive.

Alright, I've set some pretty lofty goals for next year and wanted to share with my friends and family exactly what I plan on doing. Maybe we can even work on some of these together. Actually, I hope to encourage and/or inspire some of you to take the same challenge I'm about to embark on.

A man I have a lot of respect for, who was also provided me the motivation to do a garden, set up a website  hoping "to restore a can do spirit to our modern world." His name is Jack Spirko, the creator of  "The Survival Podcast" ( http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/ ).

You may agree that, as Americans, we have it pretty nice over hear in the states. Enjoying our big screen TV's, having grocery stores within a few minutes drive, not to mention being able to practically buy anything we could ever need. It is my belief that as a result of this luxurious lifestyle, we've lost touch with a part of our humanity. We've become dangerously dependent upon the government and corporations to provide for and protect us. Anytime we allow an organization to take responsibility for us, whether through provision or protection, we hand over a piece of individual liberty to pay for it. We all do it, but lets slowly start to transition our lifestyle to one that takes more personal responsibility. Certainly there's some skills you've always been interested in learning or a skill you currently have but want to improve.

Allow me to tell you about 2 of the 13 skills I've selected. One is a fruit orchard. I want to be able to walk into my back (or front) yard and pick a variety of fresh fruit. I felt that a goal of 5 trees or bushes would be a great start and as a result I will learn about pruning, plant placement, perennial fertilization and care. Just looking into the subject I've quickly learned that there are all kinds of fruiting bushes available that grow fine in our climate, yet I've never heard of them. Stay tuned to my blog, as I'll make sure to keep it updated. The advantage of being able to grow my own fruit is fairly obvious...I know where it came from, I know it's fresh,  and I know what products (or lack thereof) were used in it's production.

The second skill is hunting. I've never successfully hunted a deer or turkey and feel that the techniques involved in this would transfer over to most other game in my area. Plus, I'd feel more confidant as the provider of the house if I knew I could provide meat in the event we couldn't afford store bought meat. So, I've set a goal of taking down one deer and one turkey for 2013.

There are 11 more skills I'm hoping to learn and if you'd like to see them, check out my profile page at http://13skills.com/member/3393/hoe-made .

Finally, I hope you'll find this an effort worth considering for yourself. If so, definitely let me know, I'd be eager to hear about it. You can learn more about it and create your own profile hear http://13skills.com/ .

Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Clinton

Chicken tractor & weedless gardening

Alright, I've decided to vencher into owning chickens. My plans are to start with 3 laying hens and just harvest eggs. However, chickens do a great job and clearing pests from the soil and fertilizing it at the same time, so I plan to take full advantage of that with my mobile chicken pen (aka chicken tractor). I want to thank Bumper (Sam) for helping me to make this happen. My brother-in-law provided me the pen practically already built. All I did was paint, roof, hang door, and wrapped it in chicken wire. Thanks Bump!
Having chickens will increase my liberty and self-sufficiency. By producing some of our own meat (eggs) we are less dependent on others, plus as I mentioned earlier, chickens can be used to clear a piece of grass of seed, while fertilizing it at the same time. I saw a video of a guy who would put chickens on a piece of grass for 3 weeks, giving them time to pick all the grass/weed seed out of it, while fertilizing it. After moving them to the next patch of grass he would plant the previous spot, which is now fertilized and weed seed free.

Also, I've covered my garden with approximately 8 inches of mulch. By practicing some "weedless gardening" techniques, I hope to greatly reduce my time spent weeding next year. Plus, the mulch will hold lots of moisture, reducing the amount of watering I'll need to do.

Mobile chicken pen, also called a chicken tractor. I'll put wheels on the back, lift  the front , and move it anywhere in the yard. All that is left is a ramp for the chickens to walk up into the house.

Back of tractor. notice the hinges. This is how I will get the eggs. 

Mulch and lots of it. 8 to 12 inches deep. I've increased the garden width by about 10 feet. I hope to double last years space before next spring.