fatmommafarms

Decided to try and grow rice last year, it was very successful. We settled on the storied heirloom variety, Carolina Gold. Be sure to subscribe to our SubStack to see additional content https://open.substack.com/pub/fatmommafarms/p/carolina-gold-rice?r=2titqj&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

just a quick video about repurposing a straw bale at the end of the year, and plans for things for next year.

harvesting, thrashing, winnowing, and ground wheat. would I do it all over again? Maybe. It was a great experience. If you have the space and just want to grow a crop to see if you can, wheat is a great crop to try.

Halfway through the year, and I just wanted to give everybody a glimpse of how the pool to pond conversion was going. I am really happy with it. Not a lot of complicated equipment, solar pump, a solar powered aerator, and the powered pump from Harbor freight. And a whole mess of fish and hyacinths. This is my happy place. I hope you enjoy.

just a quick touch base and how I clean my NFT system between plantings. We had just finished harvesting the last run which was all Basil, and I have some parsley, cilantro, and buttercrunch lettuce ready to go. I'm not worried about the nutrients or water volume like I would if this were a Kratky Bucket system since the water gets refreshed each week with nutrients. I mix 1 cup of hydrogen peroxide with 1 gallon of water and let it run through the table for 10 minutes, then I start knocking off any algae goop with my trusty toilet bowl brush. I give it a good flush with fresh water. When the water runs clear I'm done. Ready to plant again.

quick vid about harvesting Borage flowers for tea and garnish. Borage is a great all-purpose plant to have in your garden. It has a light cucumber taste which is good in salads and tea. It is a pollinator favorite, even though it self-pollinates. It is very hardy once established and requires little maintenance. Just my kind of plant!!!

talking about Shou Sugi Ban/Yaki Sugi wood treatment for grape trellis. If you've tried this before, leave a comment with your experience.

It finally happened this morning. I walked out on the back deck and saw ducks in the pool. Very exciting.

This is the second posting of this video. I apologize to everyone who watched the first. the Codex messed up somehow and the last 9 minutes of video were black, I didn't realize before I posted. This is the complete video chat about planting potatoes, rice, and the unboxing of our new pond pump. Hope you enjoy, be sure to like and follow to get alerts for new content and post your comments below, I'd love to hear from you :)

Finally built and in the water, so excited to get this in the pool finally. Will keep you posted on how it goes. As of the time of posting we have strawberries in bloom. Haven't really thought about how I'm going to pinch back or harvest LOL. May have to just call those plant's a lost cause. In the grand scheme of things this is a huge step forward in our pool to pond conversion. It's not pretty, but it floats!! I might be building a few smaller islands to hold pots for water poppies and lilies. I did not put the orange construction fence on the bottom. I did not put any "large" holes, only the small pencil sized holes since the roots on the prototype pushed through the small holes anyway. Leave any comments, would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks for watching

Overview of how to condition straw bales to get them ready for planting, and some other random stuff. Books: Straw Bale Gardens by Joel Karsten, Growing Vegetables in Straw Bales by Craig Lehoullier, and Straw Bale Gardening by John Tullock Conditioning: Day 1, 3, & 5 - 1/2 cup High nitrogen fertilizer and water Day 2, 4, & 6 - Water deeply Day 7, 8, 9, & 10 - 10/10/10 fertilizer, water well, start recording bale temperatures. Day 11 - rest day Day 12 through planting, continue alternating fertilizer and water. Bone Meal: Collect any kind of bones. (You can ask for them at butcher shops or supermarkets) Store them in your freezer until you have a sufficient amount. Boil off all tissues, meat and fat (bone broth) Bake in the oven until brittle. Pulverize with a hammer and grind it up!

Our never ending battle with frogs lol. But frogs are a sign of a healthy pond ecosystem. I just wish they didn’t joy ride around on my solar pumps.

Subscribe to our Substack newsletter for more information https://fatmommafarms.substack.com/p/growing-lettuce-in-a-sterilite-tote showing the progress and results of the lettuces and parsnip we planted into our Kratky jars. talk a little about down time and organization. Leave comments or tips below.

trying straw bale gardening, follow along this season with us :) extra resources: Strawbalegardens.com, DIYNatural article on Strawbale gardening, thehomesteadingboards.com 2011 Wayne NC Fair - Miniature Hay Baler demonstration, video orginally shared by WanefairNC at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRUPb7HBDN4&t=39s Books: Straw Bale Solutions: Creative Tips for Growing Vegetables in Bales at Home, in Community Gardens, and Around the World by Joel Karsten Straw Bale Solutions: Creative Tips for Growing Vegetables in Bales at Home, in Community Gardens, and Around the World. Also by by Joel Karsten STRAW BALE GARDENING For BEGINNERS - How to Grow Vegetables, Fruits and Herbs in a Straw Bale Garden by Michael Stones 2011 Wayne NC Fair - Miniature Hay Baler demonstration, video originally shared by WanefairNC on their youtube channel. I have no affiliation with Wayne County.

Subscribe on Substack for more information: https://fatmommafarms.substack.com/p/growing-lettuce-in-a-sterilite-tote Give a basic overview of NFT and DWC before going into the Kratky system. Kratky system is a non-circulating hydroponic system which is easy and cost effective. One thing I didn't say in the video, your water should be filtered to start with a neutral PH before adding your nutrients. Enjoy. We welcome comments :) Here is a link to the paper published by Dr Kratky in 2009. https://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/hawaii/downloads/three_non-circulating_hydroponic_methods_for_growing_lettuce.pdf image resources: Atlanta Gardening Forum and nosoilsolutions.com, mygardenlife.com The Spruce has a great article about identifying and fixing plant nutrient deficiencies. Check out our Strawberry Island series of videos!

Checking in on Strawberry Island, thinking about spring and meeting Bamboo! Don't forget to hit subscribe and check out our other videos. Have you done a pool to pond conversion or built your own island for gardening or conservation purposes? We would love to hear from you. Leave a comment below.

Update to our winter wheat video, show how it's going so far. We did have a deer visit our patch, after wrapping it with the mesh and putting some bamboo stakes around it the deer stopped coming. I don't know if it was the measures we had taken, or just that they had moved on to greener pastures.

As promised, we would share the good, bad, and ugly of our journey. We had high hopes of being able to garden in the greenhouse in the cold of winter. Not yet winter but pretty cold has proven we were not ready. Here is a visual breakdown of the temps for the three days we did various types of heating. Results vary based on wind, sun, and ambient temps. Day 1: Votive -External High: 41 -External Low: 21 -Green house High: 64 -Green house Before heating: 39 -Sunrise temp: 41 Day 2: Propane and Bricks -External High: 31 -External Low: 22 -Green house High: 78 -Green house Before heating: 42 -Sunrise temp: 40.7 Day 3: Pillar Candles -External High: 37 -External Low: 18 -Green house High: 83 -Green house Before heating: 43 -Sunrise temp: 39

Hope you enjoy, we are trying something new, growing wheat in our yard over winter. If you've ever thought about it before, now might be a perfect time to start.

Join us as we attempt to create a modified deep water culture island and natural pool conversion. Thank you for watching, hope you enjoyed. Don't forget to subscribe and rumble +. Comments are always welcome. At Fat Momma Farms we are not experts, we practice the scientific method of study and experimentation :) and if we get a little more self-sufficient along the way - BONUS! Big thank you to Brian for the original music used for our video. If you are interested in procuring custom music yourself, message me. I'll pass your name along.

Thank you for watching, hope you enjoyed. Don't forget to subscribe and rumble +. Comments are always welcome. At Fat Momma Farms we are not experts, we practice the scientific method of study and experimentation :) and if we get a little more self-sufficient along the way - BONUS! We are not afraid to showcase our fails so you can grow with us. Big thank you to Brian for the original music used for our video. If you are interested in procuring custom music yourself, message me. I'll pass your name along. Links to resources for this video: https://www.epa.gov/recycle/composting-home https://www.bhg.com/gardening/yard/compost/how-to-compost/ https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/composting-beginners-guide https://www.foodgardenlife.com/show/compost-heater https://www.gardensthatmatter.com/ https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/organic-food/art-20043880 https://www.acsh.org/news/2015/09/29/20-reasons-not-to-feed-your-family-organic https://www.pyracantha.co.uk/what-to-put-in-a-compost-bin-and-what-not-to-compost/ https://www.gardenmyths.com/growing-food-plastic-containers-safe/ https://gardening.yardener.com/Aged-Manure https://www.familyhandyman.com/article/what-is-composted-manure/ ...and many more :) Light Reading: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/78353.Books_About_Composting