Less Than An Acre Farm

2012-06-22T07:51:00.001-04:00

2012-06-22T07:45:00.000-04:00

TILAPIA DONE! :0(

We tried to sex the fish again to narrow down the group to one male and three females and in the process, something happened to the fish. Can't really tell what it was, but the 4 that were left over stopped eating and died. Don't know if they missed their friends or what, but the aquaponics experiment is over at less than an acre farm.

As the experiment wore on, it became obvious that it didn't fit in with the other animals raised here: chickens, rabbits and quail. Fish are super-sensitive and take a lot of specialized equipment. Oh well, it was still fun trying and I learned a good bit about the fish. I will be using that space in the basement to start a year-round hydroponic salad garden.

More on that as I get it going.

2012-06-02T18:36:00.000-04:00

Tilapia moved to breeder tank.

Kevin and I got the 8 breeders into the 90 gallon tank. They really look good in it and the increase in space from the 55 to the 90 was needed. Our fish were too big. I'll be getting another pump and setting up the aquaponic deep water culture beds shortly. Stay tuned!

The tank is sitting low to the ground so I can gravity drain the aquaponic tanks back into it. Year-round, bug-free salad greens are a great treat! Can't wait to show you the pics.

Blessings,

Wally

2012-06-01T08:07:00.003-04:00

Raising Tilapia.

At the end of February this year, we received fifteen 2" White Nile Tilapia from White Brook Tilapia Farm to start our new aquaponics experiment. This fish were healthy and grew fast. At the the beginning of May, we sexed the fish and reduced the total to 8. We are hoping to end up with 2 males and 6 females out of this mix but we'll know the actual count soon enough.

(Photo courtesy of Flickr)

Judging by their activity, we are getting ready to have Tilapia babies and we are excited! As long as we get one breeding pair out of the 8 fish we will be fine as they lay eggs about every 6 weeks and start out laying 30-50 eggs at a time. In the wild, the survival rate is only about 1%, however, in captivity, it is more like 95%. We will have more fish than we can use very soon.

Our goal is to set up three 250 gallon tanks to grow out our fish and run part of the water through deep channel tanks with floating beds to raise whatever vegetables we can get during the season. In north Georgia that will be about 7 months out of the year. We have been told that these fish will reach 1+ pound in that time so we are hoping to eventually coordinate the grow-out period and the fish raising period to coincide so that we can let the grow-out operation die down to a minimal size during the colder winter months to avoid the extra costs of heating the three tanks.

Our breeding operation is maintained in my basement where the temperature is constant and the conditions can be easily monitored. We are also going to have a small aquaponic setup on the breeder tank to give us year-round salad mixes!

I will post some pictures of our fish operation soon. Feel free to write with any questions or suggestions at waltersingingr@gmail.com.

God bless,

Wally

2012-05-26T18:28:00.002-04:00

Sorry I haven't written in forever, but I've been ultra busy with too many things that are not as important as keeping you up-to-date on the Less than an Acre Farm. Since I last wrote I have:

Rabbits getting ready to breed. I have an American Chinchilla buck and an American Chinchilla doe as well as three New Zealand White does. All will be ready (theoretically) to breed in June. I'm excited to get the rabbit meat in the freezer for us and our friends and family.

This is the buck. Nice shape but has dual coloring on his back. If I were trying to sell breeding stock I'd have to let him go, but since this is a family meat operation, I won't be as picky!

Here's a view of one of my cages. The first rabbit is a N.Z. White doe. The middle rabbit is the American Chinchilla doe and the buck is at the far end.

Here's a shot of the other two N.Z. White does,

Just processed 33 broilers today. What a job. Fortunately, I had lots of help. My oldest son, Michael and 2 good friends of ours, Scott and Michael (I'll call him Father Michael to differentiate) pitched in to make the process really smooth. I still have 16 left to process next Saturday and I just hatched 23 more yesterday. I'll process those in 5 or 6 weeks. That should hold us for this year.

The garden is way behind - as usual. I put 70 tomato plants in, a small bed of cabbage, beets, string beans and herbs so far. I've still got to plant, as a minimum, more string beans, lima beans, summer squash, zucchini and cucumbers. I should be much further ahead, but I took on an additional project this winter and that is absorbing some of my "extra" time. :0)

The extra project is raising Tilapia. We bought 15 3 inch fish in February this year and after they got to be about 6-7" we sexed the fish (we hope) and kept 6 females and 2 males (we think). They are almost ready to breed and we are excited. We keep the breeder operation in our basement where the temperature is easier to control and we are building a grow out room behind our greenhouse which is attached to the garage. We intend to utilize aquaponics for the vegetables and the increased filtration that we'll get for the fish tanks. In addition, I'm starting two small aquaponic salad beds in the basement to get better filtration for our breeder tanks as well as giving us organic salad all year long! Great deal!!

That's it for now. Write me and let me know if you have any questions. I'll try to include some pictures soon.

Blessings in Christ Jesus,

Wally

Greenhouse producing salads still

2011-11-16T14:58:00.000-05:00

Though the winter/fall season has been light by historic standards, my 2'x8' bed of greens in the greenhouse is producing well. I have bibb lettuce and romaine lettuce, 2 types of spinach and a mesclun lettuce mix - all producing more than we can currently eat. Hoping to keep this going as long as possible. Will update in December!

Adding rabbits to the farm - to eat!

2011-11-16T14:53:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading a few bleeding heart articles from people who can't stand the fact that people would eat rabbits. I guess there aren't enough trees to hug in their neighborhoods!

We, on the other hand, are firm believers in eating that which is healthy and can be raised on our little farm; the rabbit firmly fits in that category. We are getting a trio of American Chinchillas around Christmas and should be raising litters by June or July. I'll update the site with photos as we start the process.

The New Debt Deal

2011-08-03T14:35:00.001-04:00

Well they finally did it. The Congress was able to get together and disagree enough to put out a bill that nobody likes! Kinda sounds counter-productive, doesn't it? I have to admit that defining the "current" argument in Washington these days is just about impossible, what with the 'he said/she said' bickering going back and forth and the multitude of pundits declaring what is "really important" in the current debate.

After all was signed and finished, the reporting states that there was really no reduction in spending, but in fact, the government would spend 2% more next year than this year and 4% more the following year! The bottom line: no one in Washington has enough nerve to address government spending. Our elected officials are simply pandering to the masses with their so-called stands on either spread the wealth and tax the rich or no more spending and cut the taxes. It really doesn't matter which side you agree with, because you didn't get either in this compromise.

What would happen if individuals handled their finances like this? The result is obvious: bankruptcy! Real people have one option - pay your bills or else. Why should the government have a different set of options? Afterall, our debtors want to be paid. The people we've promised money to want to be paid. If we've promised to pay them, then pay them we must (especially if it's simply a matter of printing more money). But we must stop the spending (and thereby the matter of printing more money).

We don't need higher taxes. We need to stop the spending. That means programs will get reduced or totally cut out. That is not a good platform for a politician to run on but it is the right platform. The debate in congress should be about what programs get cut back and how far, not how much more we can bring in.

In a normal household where both people are working, the decision on how to fix the finances always starts at the same place - stop spending. It's really not that difficult to decide. It's painful to implement and that is where the problem starts. Americans are whiners! They don't like pain or sacrifice, but both are part of the antidote to the snakebite of rampant overspending. You either take the anti-venom or die. Seems like a no-brainer to me.

The "New Society" - sans oil

2011-06-23T10:47:00.003-04:00

I firmly believe that our love affair with oil and all the so-called progress that it brought in the wake of the industrial revolution, is coming to an end in the next 40 years. This does not make me sad, suicidal, anti-American or anything else, except, maybe: aware. And that is what I want for America today. That is what I want for my children and my grandchildren and my great-grandchildren. Starting now, I want people to be aware of where society is heading and to start think-tanks that will help put solutions in front of the citizens of this country.

What am I talking about? If you read my last article you know that I believe the publicly-available oil will be gone in approximately 40 years or less. As the worlds population continues to increase exponentially and the demand on oil rises with it, cheap oil (if there is any of it left) will evaporate from the pumps. The price of gasoline and diesel will necessarily escalate to the point that only the extremely wealthy and governments will have access to it. That means automobiles for the masses will dwindle to a few. Public transportation will be the major mode of moving about and everything that depended upon oil will skyrocket in price, or no longer be available. This paradigm change requires a completely new way of viewing our future.

No longer can we think in terms of oil always being available; it is a physical impossibility. The media would have you believe that is not the case, but as usual they are lying. We need to to rethink how we will live in the post-industrial world. I don't think it's a Mad Max scenario we're moving towards, but I do believe the new world will favor the agrarian world of the 16th and 17th century. For some of you, this scenario will be impossible to embrace. Unfortunately, you will be in the group that was least prepared for the inevitable.

Let me stop here for a moment and let my faith speak. I absolutely believe in the coming return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the renewing of everything in him. This is not my eschatology working itself in a peak-oil vision. I do not advocate violence, nor believe that it will serve any purpose. Trying to overthrow the governments as Greece is doing is of no value.

For starters, this will happen in steps. We won't wake up one morning to the announcement that gas is 20.00 a gallon. The change will be incremental. What will be deceiving is that the media and our government will not be warning us of the forthcoming crash - they will be telling us that it is just another price blip in oil. They'll say don't worry, it's going to get better. The rhetoric will continue as it has since the debacle started in 2008.

People will advocate alternative sources of energy, reducing energy usage, saving the whales and hugging some more trees. While all of these things are good, they are only temporary. The loss of abundant cheap petroleum, and eventually coal, will radically alter the way we are able to live. To put off preparations for a drastically changed future society because we believe that drilling for oil in Alaska or the discovery of some alternative power source will save us is just burying our heads in the sand. Glenn Beck, who I enjoy listening to, is talking about diminishing oil supplies and how that will affect us, but he is still not pushing as hard as I think we need to for a new paradigm.

Almost everything that makes our lives what we are used to, is made, produced or delivered, through oil. Whatever alternative energy resource we come up with won't replace petroleum in the manufacturing of the stuff that our lives are filled with today.

I'm going to continue writing in this series as I get new ideas, but my goal for now is to get you thinking about what society might look like sans (without) oil. God bless.

Are you buying gold to give to the government?

2011-06-22T10:11:00.001-04:00

Most of us today do not remember that in 1933, FDR signed an Executive order (actually 2) that prohibited individuals from hoarding gold and also made it a crime to transfer gold holdings to a foreign country to avoid turning your gold over to the government.

Even though it sounds outlandish, what would keep that from happening again today? Nothing. FDR declared a national banking emergency and confiscated the public's gold holdings. We are definitely moving into the greatest banking crisis in history and gold sales are at record levels. This would be right up our government's alley.

Considering that a great deal of the wealth of middle-class America has already been robbed (through inflation, devalued housing and investment fraud), the current scare that has many individuals spending what available cash they have on gold, seems to be the right path for the government to complete the destruction of the middle class. They will wait until we've spent the rest of our "loose cash" on gold or silver and then just take it under the pretense of a national emergency.

As ludicrous as this may seem, I ask you to analyze this possibility through the eyes of history. 1933 is a time when the government is struggling to hold the economy together and FDR showed that whatever was in the best interest of the country (read: rich folks) was what he intended to do.

Why, just 17 years before that the government allowed the institution of the Federal Income Tax which transferred the burden of supporting the politician's various spending proposals and borrowing endeavors, from the corporations to the general public. They also set up the Federal Reserve System which allowed the government to control the value of money in our country for the purpose of keeping the rich, rich. (If you don't believe that, please review the current bailout scenario where only the "money" was bailed out; those that were too big to fail.)

Just thought I would jot these notes down as the possibility of yet another robbery of the American citizenry was underway.

No gasoline - no diesel - what will the world look like?

2011-06-16T16:35:00.001-04:00

I am slow of mind at times - well, in fact, quite often. While staring at the side issues, though important issues, of GMO seeds and corporations taking over America, wars being fought where we aren't being threatened, and the like, the obvious has escaped me.

What will the world look like when we run out of fuel? This is going to happen - at some level. I believe there will be fuel available for a couple of hundred years but after the next 30 or so years, it won't be available to the public. No, the reality is that the quantity of oil we can pump from this planet is very limited. The other reality is that the population is booming. These two lines can be graphed and their intersection, I believe, is approximately 30-40 years away. When the governments of the world can no longer hide the fact that we are running out of oil (and they are hiding it) it will be too late for the people of the world to do anything about it - except suffer.

The governments will keep what ever oil is still available to fuel their military and to continue to provide a basic infrastructure for the people, but there will be no jumping in the car and driving to work, the grocery store, or anywhere for that matter. Our lives are based on petroleum and when that is no longer available to exploit, life as we know it will end. In fact, it may very well mean the real end of life for millions as food shortages and poverty sweep across the world, and in their wake riots and mayhem follow. Think that's far-fetched? Just look at the loons rioting over the recent Boston hockey win in Vancouver, Canada. Oh yeah, losing a hockey game is worth rioting for isn't it - not! But what will these people do when the realize they can't afford to put gas in their cars - long before the gas has actually run out?

Many who read this will say, Oh no, the government won't let this happen. I'm telling you they are letting it happen right now! Think about it - there has to be a finite amount of oil in the ground. If the earth were a hollow ball, that is the maximum amount that could be contained! But it isn't a hollow ball and peak oil has already happened in many places - including the United States. People are just refusing to acknowledge it. They are living in a dream! This is the dream that says, things will always get better, there will always be more, it will go on like this forever.

I am advocating that people start to think about how the world is going to look when a world that is set up to run on oil no longer has oil in its tanks. This isn't as simple as saying well, we'll have solar by then, or we'll have hydro by then, or we'll have something else by then. Our entire distribution system is set up for gasoline or diesel. Everything that is manufactured in this country - yea, in the world, requires petroleum in some form. When that is gone, the products we are used to, the lifestyles we are used to, will not be available to us any longer. That means just about everything we use today will be affected, because oil and yes, coal (limited as well) powers all the manufacturing.

The solution to this is going to take many minds working together to reinvent society. The time to start is now.

Wally Roderick

Change in focus at our farm

2011-06-15T07:37:00.000-04:00

15 June, 2011

Well, it's not a major change, but we are reducing our number of chickens to focus more on the vegetable side of the industry - to be specific, I want to do more research into the GMO side of the industry and see if it is possible to determine who has products on our grocery shelves that definitely use GMO products in them, and then expose those products to the consumers of our country.

America deserves the same fair shake that Europe is getting on GMO foods. They protested and had them removed from their shelves. We can do the same in our country if everyone will take a stand. We are America. Monsanto is not America and will not survive in the food industry if we do not purchase their goods. If the companies involved in the production of GMO foods are more interested in profit than in our safety, they have declared war on us by their actions. They are saying they don't care if we die as long as they make money. Anyone willing to kill you for their personal gain has declared war on you.

America - suit up!

Why are there so many food allergies

2011-06-14T10:10:00.000-04:00

14 June 2011

From Dr. Mercola's website.

A compelling video - good research- showing why the number of food allergies is skyrocketing.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/06/14/why-are-there-so-many-food-allergies-now.aspx

Sprouts appear to be cause of E.coli in Germany

2011-06-10T10:16:00.000-04:00

10 June 2011

An article in the Washington Post has stated that the cause of the E.coli outbreak in Germany is bad vegetable sprouts. What makes it worse, is that these are supposedly coming from an "organic" farm. The article did not state what exactly caused the E.coli outbreak, but that it was still being investigated.

I can't help but feel that this is a golden opportunity for the industrial farming operation to attack the organic movement by showing that even organics can be bad. But I want to see what the final decision is in this case before I use any more ink on it. The researchers have mentioned that it could be contaminated water on the farm or contaminated seeds. What I am positive of is that it was not the correct practicing of organic farming that produced the E.coli. Correct practices would include regular water testing as well as seed checks.

Regardless of the cause, this is still another great reason to grown your own. You can produce your own sprouts, safely and inexpensively, right in your own kitchen. That is what this blog is all about: becoming self-sufficient. As the food distribution chain continues to fail, there will be more outbreaks like this one and fear will spread among consumers that it is not safe to eat anywhere - but at home.

Most of us will not be able to completely disconnect from the industrial food supply, but we must do all we can to wean ourselves off of it.

Chicken killing day on the farm

2011-06-09T07:40:00.000-04:00

9 June 2011

Well, this past Saturday we turned the last batch of junior feed eaters into future dinners. I know for some of you that eating meat is a no-no, but since God gave it to us to eat, and it does taste good, and I can raise it in a healthy manner, I'm gonna continue to eat chicken. It's another way we can work towards a self-sustaining lifestyle. Most states have no regulations prohibiting the butchering of meat for personal use so take advantage of it. The conditions you will slaughter in will be 10 times more sanitary than the government approved conditions.

Another benefit of the slaughter day is: fellowship. I know it sounds a little sordid, but there are usually three of us involved, all family members, and we have a great time together practicing an art that has been around for as long as man has.

I intend to do a video on the operation at some point because I want to show how disconnected the birds are from the act of killing them. As I remove birds from the pen, those that remain just go back to eating, even though they are in plain view of the cones! I love my chickens and they have the purpose of providing my family with eggs and meat and entertainment, but they are not extremely bright. They do what they do very well which is eat, lay eggs, and make meat - all with a generally happy demeanor. What else could a self-sustaining farmer ask for?

We must start raising our own food!

2011-06-02T10:22:00.000-04:00

2 June 2011

The recent outbreak of a new E.coli bacteria that has killed at least 17 people and sickened another 1500 is another reason why we need to take "safe food" into our own hands as much as possible. Why take the risks associated with untold numbers of people handling our food, and shipping across the ocean or even shipping across the country, when you can produce much of what you need in your own yard.

You may say that you can't grow everything that you currently eat, but I suggest that we all need to look at our dietary requirements and see what we can substitute for the items that we can't grow. Have you considered eating sprouts? How about wheatgrass? Microgreens? All three of these products can be grown indoors, with minimum lighting requirements and they are not expensive. In addition, they are super healthy food products and can be grown in less than a week for the most part (micro greens take a little longer).

For most of us, the biggest challange will be accepting a change in what we are eating. The foods mentioned above are raw and that is the best type of food to eat. Raw foods contain the most nutrients and minerals available to our bodies. Unfortunately, we have gotten used to eating conveniently and not healthy.

I recently read somewhere that spinach kept at 39 degrees will lost most of its nutritional value in 8 days. It will still be green and look good, but you won't derive any value from it for your body. Another article talked about the reduction in minerals available to plants in typical industrial gardening today. Most soils used commercially have up to 30% less nutrients available to the plants grown in them than they had 30-40 years ago. Couple that with the reduced nutritional value of our foods just from time travel from the farm to the store and you have a situation where our food is giving us up to 50% of what it is supposed to provide.

Is there a reasonable solution? Absolutely. I just mentioned it. Intensive gardening outdoors and sprouts, wheatgrass and micro greens indoors. If you live in a colder climate, you can extend your growing season with a small greenhouse or by using hoops and plastic. There are a myriad of ways to make this happen. All you need is the desire to see it done.

Welcome to Less Than An Acre Farm

2011-05-25T12:52:00.001-04:00

25 May 2011

We have an almost-organic small farm where we produce many of our vegetables, all of our chicken, eggs, micro-greens, wheatgrass and other healthy foods. We are in the process of starting our own Goji Berry bushes as well as Autumn Olive bushes. Both of these plants produce berries that are in the super-food category. We will also be adding blueberries, blackberries and raspberries to our farm. We also produce our own soap and lotion products that are made from ingredients that are as natural as possible - no scents - only all-natural essential oils (no sulfates). We are a small farm in the process of becoming. Join us on our journey!

This blog will cover all that we are doing on our small farm with the hope that we will encourage others to grow their own food - both meat and vegetables - and participate in event called feeding your body. For too many years we have left the decisions involved with our food up to others who had no interest whatsoever in our health - but only in how to extract the greatest amount of wealth from our wallets.

We will show you how to supplement your table fare right out of your own garden - regardless of how small your property is. Even if you live in an apartment, you can grow some things on your balcony and produce super-healthy micro greens and wheatgrass on your countertop.

If you live where zoning will allow chickens (at least a few hens), we can show you how to become your own healthy egg supplier. If you have enough yard for the chickens to graze, feed costs will be minimal.

Please feel free to write us with questions or recommendations as we would like this blog to be a place where helpful information is shared.

Additionally, we will have an online store where some of our food and hand-crafted items will be for sale!

Blessings in Jesus Christ,

Wally Roderick