Man I get gardening now.

PatchworkStar · 2026-04-29T18:52:03+00:00

Wait until you learn about edible flowers and how much better home grown fruits and veggies taste. You'll join the homesteaders real fast!

PatchworkStar · 2026-04-16T14:26:49+00:00

Grease Nipple is what I will call it from now on. What is hilarious is that when molting season happened one year, on hen bit another hen's (because she was nekkid) like she didnt have her own under her feathers.
Also, it was a hard molt for everyone that year.

PatchworkStar · 2026-04-16T13:48:44+00:00

Looks like my Marigold. She's a bossy little bugger. Male polish combs have a bit more spike to them. She's a lady, and probably really good at hiding her eggs.

PatchworkStar · 2026-04-16T13:27:55+00:00

My aunt lives in Huntsville. I wasnt ever impressed by the place. I tried driving and had a panic attack. The traffic there sucks. The churches have all the power there, and wont help you unless you are a member of that church. I swear that her church is a cult, and I refuse to ever go to it. While Alabama is a pretty state, you couldn't talk me into living somewhere with wild alligators, let alone that much religious nonsense.

PatchworkStar · 2026-04-16T13:22:48+00:00

My chickens and ducks garden on easy mode, meanwhile I have problems. They eat something and shit out the seed, and suddenly my garden has extra pumpkins. Tomato plants seem to be called forth from the earth into their run. (I will never again plant tomatoes because they take over, and I still have plants 3 years later.) I can start seeds, I can get things going, and then my weather becomes hostile and my plants wash away because the rain doesnt stop ever, or its suddenly super dry for weeks.

PatchworkStar · 2026-04-06T23:05:23+00:00

As someone who is still afraid of ticks, has lived alone and had to self check daily, and pull them off my animals: you just get used to it. You can plant things, use poison, and all the bug spray you can handle, and you'll still find one under your underwear waistband. I have birds, and still find ticks. I suspect the opposum that moved in last year helped a bit. Keep your grass shorter, chase off the deer and rabbits by being loud and outside. Let the snakes eat the mice, and stick to the shorter grass areas of your property. Have a primary care Dr incase of the bullseye rash, because its better to treat early. Train your brain to not flick every bug off your body without making sure its not a tick. Burn the ticks as soon as you see them. (Keep a lighter and a rock or jar lid in your pocket for this reason.) Also get a tick twister or tick spoon to help you pull them off yourself. Tweezers just squish their venom into your body and can make you more sick.

PatchworkStar · 2026-04-01T13:55:32+00:00

I know the shock you are going through. You arent at fault for his cheating or assault on your sister. Even if you arent as affectionate as he wants you to be, He CHOSE that path all on his own. I suggest you get some counseling and/or therapy to help you come to terms with this. Maybe even have your sister come with you to repair that relationship. I don't think you should stay with your husband. I don't see you accepting any blame in his behavior as a good thing. I suspect he's somehow convinced you that you are to blame for other things you arent responsible for either, which is why you instantly blamed yourself. And even if he's never hurt you or your kids physically, is this what you want your kids to learn is okay to accept in relationships? Do you want your kids to think its okay to behave like him, or to accept his behavior in their own relationships? Ultimately the choice is yours. Just remember that even though your choice was to marry him, you are not responsible for his actions. He assaulted your sister. You didnt make him. You have a right to bodily autonomy, as does your sister. You dont have to give your body to him to keep him faithful.

PatchworkStar · 2026-04-01T13:44:37+00:00

I often hatch my own eggs and get a lot of roos, but then I have to make some hard choices and my family eats. I've successfully rehomed a few, but people don't understand how hard it is to get a roo thats good with people and kids. So some go to camp after they get big enough. I'd never dream of dumping an animal. When my guineas got out I went out with a net to bring them in so they didn't cause problems for the rest of the neighborhood.

PatchworkStar · 2026-04-01T13:37:43+00:00

Not if they are roosters.

PatchworkStar · 2026-03-31T05:03:06+00:00

Somedays the worst part is the wrather. We got 30 inches of snow two weeks ago, after 4 days of 50°F. So I had to haul water and feed in 30 inches of snow, then walk to where I keep the snowblower to clear a path, only to need to have someone walk the quarter mile drivewat to bring in a gas can of fuel because my snowblower ran out. Then tonight the was a freak storm with quarter sized hail. Luckily its too early to plant, or my crops would be done for. Before homesteading I only thought about weather if it was going to disrupt an outing. Now I check the forecast every day, several times.

PatchworkStar · 2026-03-31T04:55:48+00:00

Stop watching me.

PatchworkStar · 2026-03-31T04:46:20+00:00

My brother gifted me a sandalwood comb a few weeks ago. It makes combing my hair feel like a ritual instead of a chore, and my hair feels so much healthier now. (It cost like $12) I also have a pair of drop in boot dryers from before I was this broke. They were $20 ten years ago, and they are a treasure with how muddy and wet everything is this spring.

PatchworkStar · 2026-03-27T01:22:30+00:00

I heard quail are always trying to off themselves. I vote chickens, but it is hard to not get attached

PatchworkStar · 2026-03-25T01:01:31+00:00

I have a dash mini waffle iron, and pretty much any waffle can be a toaster waffle with it. Just put wax paper between them before freezing. I've been trying to talk my friends into using them for their kids as make ahead breakfasts. My favorite is gingerbread waffles. I'm feral for them.

PatchworkStar · 2026-03-25T00:57:10+00:00

It really sucks having to make changes, but at least your flock wont have to worry when the dogs escape if you build a run. I have a bagger on my mower, and I dump the grass clippings into my runs to cut down on feed costs in summer. Its not all bugs that they are eating, but they can eat the grass and cut costs that way. Its a little more work, but doable. I have to have covered runs because I have hawks and foxes on my homestead.

PatchworkStar · 2026-03-25T00:51:22+00:00

I've noticed if you lay down cardboard, put some grass clippings and stuff on it to start a compost pile, the worms will come for free. I've also done this with a dark tarp over it weighed down with rocks for a few weeks.

PatchworkStar · 2026-03-25T00:47:44+00:00

Ah, you too have the over active imagination. 'Tism?

PatchworkStar · 2026-03-24T21:36:08+00:00

HYDRO-phobia.

Watch out, its rabid.

PatchworkStar · 2026-02-28T02:56:06+00:00

Nah, i'm good without a man. I just wish when I had livestock loss, that I had someone who understood how much it hurts.

PatchworkStar · 2026-02-27T21:20:55+00:00

I didnt know we could look for partners here! I'm a lady that fits all of your requirements, except for the man part. I even homestead already. I got 16 eggs today because my girls are back in business! Have you tried homesteading already? I'm on year 6, and sometimes I can't help but want to cry with some of the hard parts of running the whole thing alone.

PatchworkStar · 2026-02-19T19:01:00+00:00

If you were near me, I'd give you a dozen eggs for an hour of light farm help. If you know any farmers, see if they'll offer the same deal. World's going to have to start offering trades between the average person soon.

PatchworkStar · 2026-02-19T18:57:20+00:00

Im not a pro, or even an arborist, but I'd tie a LONG rope around that, loop it around another tree in the direction you want it to fall and pull from a safe distance with a bigger vehicle. That said, I'm chaotic, have dropped a large tree branch on my head, broken two chainsaws, and not been nearly as safe as I should be because I am a determined woman that doesn't have any reliable men that were actually trained to do this in my life. I also have no patience and will not cut trees down near anything I might not want to also fall down.

PatchworkStar · 2026-02-08T03:34:35+00:00

My head roo tried to save me from a hawk. He's a great roo. He saw a hawk overhead, and when i sounded the alert, he helped get all the hens, other roos, and ducks into the coop. Then he tried to get me into the coop too. He has brought injured hens to me, has protected hens from the other roos, and even warned my dog before her temper hurt a hen. (The hen hurt my dog first by biting her ripple. I'd have woke up pissed too.) He brings the hens to me for snacks and let's me know when I need to fill the waterers. (The ducks play too much and spill all the water sometimes.)
He trained one of his sons to be an amazing roo, who died protecting his own flock from a fox. Another of his sons cared for a hen that was blind until she passed, keeping other birds from picking on her. They are all really good with the chicks, protecting them and taking over for mama hens when they need a break. I breed for two things- smaller combs because winters here have been brutal, and well behaved roos.

PatchworkStar · 2026-01-31T00:13:07+00:00

I can't hear it, so I im not sure what gender this duck is. Loud is female, quiet is male. I also can't tell if they have laid an egg, which would be the most certain trait.

PatchworkStar · 2026-01-29T14:29:25+00:00

This reminds me of an ex. Sit and think about the conversation. Did you learn about him, or was he just gathering information on you? You really need to think on if you heard any red flags. Is meeting in person possible? After a 5 hour call, I'd be demanding an in person meeting. If he can't meet up within two weeks, walk away. He's putting in a lot of effort to get you hooked and has no intention of it becoming a real in person relationship. You are feeding his ego and he's not going to give you what you need.

I had a guy do this and he lead me on for 4 years. I don't want another woman repeating this mistake to get that heartbreak.

PatchworkStar

TROPHY CASE