I absolutely LOVE that you don't waste time on stupid intro's etc. You get right to the point with no phoney fluff. Ohhhh I am so jealous of your asparagus!!!! I just planted 6 more crowns. Could you please put your location/state somewhere under your info. This helps to know what zone you are in for those of us that follow and you are helping to know what to plant and when to plant it. Thanks.
You both are such wonderful parents. You are teaching your children to work hard yet making time for them to be children. I'm so happy your son is enjoying his kayak. Thank you for sharing your videos and farm life with us. I truly enjoy watching them. God bless 😁
Christmas lights (the large outdoor bulbs) on your fruit trees! I did it once and I had double the peach harvest of all my neighbors who lost a lot of blossoms to frost.
The best way to guard your strawberries against frost would be to rake your straw back over your plants for the night. Also poly tarps or plastic sheeting is not good because condensation will form underneath and freeze to your plants. You want something that can breathe. We really enjoy your channel and you are an inspiration to many. Thanks.
I appreciate that y’all encourage resilience by sharing your wins AND losses. A few other gardening channels I follow make it seem as if they never fail, and it’s very daunting! Thanks for your transparency and encouragement 😊
We are in Ohio also!! I’m with you concerning the weather, but we’ve lived here for 57 years!! I love it here. You both inspire me to do more in Ohio! May God bless you!!
Living in Michigan we learned to not put out our tender seedlings until the week after Memorial Day. My neighbor put his out the end of April and nursed them daily/nightly to keep them protected. By the End of July mine were producing as much if not more than his. Less stress and cost for me.
wonderful video, love the springtime preparation and those baby chicks & ducks are adorable! GOODLUCK with your garden! and I hope you get some nice cherries and apples this year! It will be prolific in whatever decides to bloom! 💚💗💛
Tip for dealing with frost. I'm in PA I was gifted a kit for a poly tunnel. It's basically tent poles with clips. I had to get plastic but it worked really well, no damaged plants. Here's what I did. For an 8ft x 3ft bed bend 5 3-4ft poles from side to side. I used painters plastic I had left over from when we painted the house. Cut it long enough so the ends can be closed in. Cover the poles and use the clips to secure it, I used a board at the ends to hold them closed. Also for extra measure I took old bottles, painted them black and filled them with water. They will capture heat in the day and slowly realize it during the night. Hope this helps! Love the channel.
I’ve had wyandottes, they were lovely. I still have a couple of their daughters but the rooster (dad) was like every breed there is 😂 they still look like wyandottes and they have their mothers interest in snacks 😅🐣 I love how excited Michelle is when she talks about herbs
Thank you for sharing this. For the past 3 years we have had freezing temperatures in Central Texas and we lost several fruit trees. Frost protection products were not even AVAILABLE locally and shipping was shut down. I did propogate plants that SURVIVED. Same with the drought. Just like any Mother, Mother nature can nuture and also challenge us.
Last fall I bought frost cloth on line. I planted kale, lettuce, radishes, beets and carrots. When first was due, I doubled the frost cloth and enjoyed all those vegetables up to March this year. I planted veges including tomatoes, squash, and cakes the first of April. Frost was predicted, but I covered everything with frost cloth. Haven't lost anything.❤
I have no idea how valid this is but saw it on another homesteaders page. Apparently if you go out before sun up the morning after a free and spray with water and wash the frost off before the sun hit it, they will be ok.
Same thing happened to my nasturtiums that are planted near my cabbage - even under our raised bed covers. However, our cabbages and chard are fine too. The temperatures here in parts of the U.K. have been record low. Like you, I have to pray and trust that no matter what, there will be a harvest if I don’t quit. As always, I love your videos 😊❤
Ohio here! I wanted to say thank you for recommending Yonie’s in a prev. video! My cats ate all my pepper seed starts and I had a greenhouse issue and lost my yellow pear tomatoes. I ran to Yonie’s greenhouse and bought affordable starts that look so healthy! And some beautiful annual flowers since my flower seedlings got so leggy. Year 3 of gardening and love all your videos and tips ❤
Hi, little tip separate ducks form chicken ASAP because when ducks drink water it's not good for chicken too drink from same source, chicken will grow slower and will have more diseases then usual. Good luck in new projects.
The Utah State University Extension office has a great guide called "Critical temperatures for frost damage on fruit trees" that outlines risk of freeze damage based on stage of bud to bloom. It has pictures to describe the stages. I have found it very helpful I'm deciding whether or not to try to cover my trees.
You are absolutely correct about the temperature. We use a a big stock tank for our brooder. We got our chicks 3/23, and we’re also in Ohio, so my garage was down as low as 38° several nights. I put a heavy sheet over the top and inside was 60-65. Even at a few days old, they generate a lot of heat.
I garden in Montana. I deal with frost all the time mixed with 60 degrees during the day. It can get as low as 24 by morning in early Spring. I use “snow blankets”. I have found if I use them with a blanket thrown on top…most garden crops will be just fine. I also will use containers to cover: blue berry bushes, asparagus, flowers. I just make sure the container is not plastic and that is large enough to not touch the plant itself.
We are just north of the fruit belt (peaches, apples, cherries , blueberries) so many neighbors work at the orchards. We have been told that 27 degrees is the magic number for freeze damage on most fruit varieties. Last week about 4:30 am it sounded like we were under attack. Helicopters everywhere stirring the air, small fires burning all over the orchards, etc.. some areas got down to 25 so we will see if west michigan has peachescand cherries this year!
Good video. Some good info. I would suggest that the brassica were touched by the frost under the bucket because the leaves were laying against the sides of the buckets - plastic transmits the cold - it works as long as leaves are not touching.
I feel your pain!!! Here in Tennessee, I was stoked to finally get my garden planted “on time” last month… ended up losing squash, beans, tomatoes, melons… etc. Luckily I had replacements for everything under the grow lamp. Thanks for sharing your thought process on waiting a few extra weeks, I’ll definitely be doing the same next season!!! I’ve learned loads from your videos and greatly appreciate you sharing your journey!! 🙌🏻
Here in central Portugal we have had a crazy spring,really wet and cold then super warm, up into the low 80s and mid 40s at night,then more cold wet and dreadful ice cold winds with lows at night down to 2 degrees some nights but high temps the next,its impossible to plan even a few hours ahead,I think the cold wind is the worst,nearly everything is yellowing..Guess the odd thing is the tomatoes,though not growing much,are holding their own..I expected to loose them,not everything else,especially the peas and beans..crazy times!
@morethanfarmers I've just started to post our journey on RU-vid, first video is awful 😆 but hey its up..I'm sure you will be too busy,but if you feel so drawn to see a bit more of what it's like out here the video is Embrace the chaos Portugal its all to learn and grow. Zero expectations honestly. ( edited to fix name sorry..newbie errors aplenty)
Aww hope you both have alot of luck , you work so so hard , us in England where i live in beautiful coyntry side our area is called Yorkshire dales , its all hills and fields for miles , dont know if you've hard of Emmerdale farm its a TV soap , well its farmed near me and all creatures great and small , its beautiful but weve had maybe 7 scattered days without rain since before christmas horrible, so fingers crossed dry nice weather will come feel sorry for farmer with busy time of lambing , hope all goes well for you this year i love watching your vlogs , your a beautiful family , plus your farm life 👍👍👍🍀🍀🍀🍀👊👊😘👏👏xx aws chicks kids love them so so cute , i love ducks look after them , keep safe xx🐓🐔🐣🐤🦆🦆🍅🌶️🍇🍏🍓🥦🥒🥕🫑🥬🧅🥚☕🍻🍰🍰you deserve the best xxx🥰
I love you guys. What a wonderful effort and pleasant attitude. You're fantastic roll models for your children... and the rest of us. I think I'll go harvest some apple mint and have a hot tea! ❤☕️
I love the "I'll plant more and it'll be fine" I just had some buggies eat my black beans and I had to start a new batch! I was disheartened at first but hearing you say this makes me feel better, o am not the only one having to restart things ❤
With ducks predator protection is the most important factor. Once they are full grown and in a secure setting they are very hardy. I love the eggs for cakes and brownies.
Very helpful in getting me going outside this morning, thank you! Nice to have a fresh shot in the arm of excitement over all that can be done in the spring. 😊 (We're in Montana so further behind you, but it's starting to happen!)
I put incandescent Christmas lights on the ground around my early crops in addition to some sort of cover and it keeps them from getting damaged in frosts. I’ve seen people put them on their citrus fruit trees as well with great success. May not be practical for everything, but worth it to save your favorite crops!
Our trees are somewhat sheltered from the wind by a barn with 16 foot sidewalls. We just got our first good harvest from heirloom liberty apples and after a neg 14 low last winter they are loaded with baby apples. Both pear trees too. I really think providing wind protection really helps.
We got a late frost last year that wiped out all of our pears. 🍐 We have one big tree that produces more than we can use. My dog was so disappointed. He loves to run out there and get the ones that fall or the squirrels drop. 🙃
We get frosts where we are. But a very simple tip to help ( not totally stop ) frosts is if you have trees closer together and things grown in between them. I find I pretty much ultimate all frost deaths. The single worst thing you can ever do is have mono crops in open areas. I plants lots of nitrogen fixes, like QLD arrowroot or pigeon peas, they fertilise my plants and protect from extreme cold and heat .
I use my rhubarb leaves for mulch around my tomatoes, herbs, peppers etc. I lay them out flat and they last and do a great job! Love you videos, you give good info and share the good with the bad! Thanks for teaching others!
I am notorious for starting seeds too early. We start our seeds inside on shelves by the woodstove...and they germinate in no time. We have a 10*20 greenhouse which we can heat a bit if needed, but my seedlings always grow too fast and need to be planted long before I get them in. 😂 You think I would learn. I think part of it is because there isn't much to do in the garden in Feb, March and early April. It's a great time to start seeds. But by mid April there is so much to do outside. I think also, here in our northern climates we want to extend the season, but no matter what we do we will still get most of our produce between July and october! We are farmers...we will never figure it all all. Somehow we still enjoy it!
The frost cover needs to be away from the plant. If the leaves are touching the cover the frost transfers through it. It may save the plant but it will still get damaged. That's why I try to stake around and essentially make more of a greenhouse around the plant. Oh and take them to the ground do not make it look like a lollipop.
i wonder if the spray kills all the pollen, i know water does. maybe if it makes it through the frost it will make new pollen after and be just fine. one thing u can do is once they start producing fruit, remove all but one apple per cluster node and u will get much bigger apples. couple years ago a big wind storm knocked all my bloom off the trees in the spring and we didnt get much for a harvest. though last year we had a bumper harvest, maybe they had a lot of energy stored up from not producing the year before.
I have found it is best to plant a little later that get too anxious and plant plants too early then take a chance on a late frost. I leave in WV, up a cold hollow and we Always get a later frost, later than others near me. I always get anxious to plant corn seed too. Last year I planted 2 rows near the mid/end of May then planted 2 more rows 2-3 weeks later. The later 2 rows actually caught up with and surpassed the first 2 rows. Because the soil was warmer. They just did better. I try not to get in such a hurry these days. I have been gardening for 30 years.
Agree with Cody! I grew up eating rhubarb pie at my grandmother's in Ohio, or stewed with icecream. Most people eat rhubarb and strawberry pie combo, but my favorite too is just rhubarb!! I planted some last year here in western NC but it died. This year I bought a 2 year old start and it is doing wonderful. I'm hoping next year for a homegrown rhubarb pie❤
Ahh, the frosts/freezes are so tough! I'm in the same zone, but in Indiana and deal with it too. I'm so curious if that spray ends up working out for you guys. And DUCKS! I'm with you, Michelle - they are just too cute! Hoping to add them to the homestead next year. Where are you guys keeping them? With the chickens?
I’m in west central Ohio. We also got the 2 frosts. I lost a bunch of my potatoes plants in the first frost🤦♀️. But they all came back. I also forgot I had my tomato starts outside, total slipped my mind and I lost all my tomatoes 🍅 ugh! So today I’m restarting everything I lost.
It sounds like it was probably a weasel that got your ducks before. They bite the neck & drink the blood. That's what happened to a couple of my chickens before. I hope you have better luck with these little cuties! I can't wait to get ducks!
Do you just check the weather every day - I never know when a frost is coming, but I don't think to check the weather all the time or know where to check it other than just google the forecast.
There are (as far as I know) 2 types of strawberries. Ever bearing and June bearing. The first gives strawberries all 3 seasons but less fruit all at once, good for snacking on. Whereas June bearing gives a large batch all at once, good for presentation. I personally like a mix of both heavy on the ever bearing side.
Remember it's more about sharing your experience than being a guru for the audience. Never be afraid to learn even from commenters or people in line at the store, "if your green you're growing and if you're ripe you're rotting".
Might be a long shot have you looked into wind? Some people here in Australia have wind like turbines set up to stop the frost from setting on the orange tree's.
I never ever pre plant ever. I sow into the ground when the temperature is right depending what i am planting. I always have harvest, very rare it doesn't grow at all. 99.99% it grow. And I live in Phx Az zone B 9.
I ordered from Berlin Seeds. One apple mint and two chocolate mint. I got one of the chocolate mint for a very good friend. We're both excited and can't wait to get them. I also bought a Valentine rhubarb. I've been wanting rhubarb for a long time. Any tips for the mint and rhubarb would be greatly appreciated. Love your channel❤
**quick question on the raspberries** We are going to plant them for the 1st time (Marysville, OH) this spring. We are a family of four, how many raspberry plants would give us good size patch like yours? BTW, my wife and I met Cody at our local Home Depot a couple weeks ago and was amazing taking a couple minutes chatting --------> Thank you!!!
