In regards to raising broilerchickens, do you butcher and process yourself? I and a friend raised 14 turkeys, a lot of effort and smell, Lots of good poo for composting. We and 3 friends butchered them day before Thanksgiving. The average dressed cleaned, cooled weight was slightly over 29 lbs each. I kept one for our Thanksgiving meal. It weighed 32 lbs! They were tender, moist (I brined mine) and very turkey tasting. But again, the soup to oven cost was not dirt cheap, but not as costly as purchasing from store or another farmer. It was an experience for sure.

We’ve got another greenhouse build coming up in the next few weeks, and I’m completely torn on what size to go with. I’d love your input. What does your dream greenhouse look like? How big would you build it? And what kind of budget would you realistically want to stay within? I’m sharing my latest concept here for context. Right now I’m leaning toward a 12' x 20' design, built as a passive solar greenhouse. The goal would be to push it closer to a true 4-season growing space. Curious to hear what you'd do.

Every spring I walk around many greenhouses and I always see things for sale that make me go... why is this here. People leave with a cart full of things that were never going to make it, or could have cost them $2 in seeds instead of $40 in starts. Here's what you need to know before going shopping this year... Lots of things can be very easily started from seed. Save yourself a ton of money and don't buy the starts. The following plants are either too easy not to start yourself or too fussy about transplanting to be worth buying as starts... GROW FROM SEED, DON'T BUY AT THE GREENHOUSE: Carrots, beets, radishes, parsnips -- direct sow, can't be transplanted, they grow a taproot the second they germinate and moving them kills them. Peas and beans -- fast from seed, go in cold ground, hate having roots disturbed. Cucumbers -- I've tried starting these and they die every time. Direct sow and they catch up fast. Squash and zucchini -- usually root bound by the time you buy them and seeds catch right up. Spinach, lettuce, arugula -- cold tolerant, germinates fast, pennies from seed. Do not buy!!! Nasturtiums, zinnias, cosmos, sunflowers -- please do not spend $4 per plant on any of these. Scratch them in the dirt and walk away. Dill and cilantro -- these bolt almost immediately after transplanting. Scatter seeds where you want them, they'll self seed forever once established. WORTH BUYING AT THE GREENHOUSE: Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant -- long indoor start time, buy these unless you have a good setup. Onion sets and leek starts -- long season crop, totally reasonable to buy. Pumpkins -- I personally have a hard time starting these from seed so I buy starts every year. No shame in it. True perennials rated for your zone -- rhubarb, chives, coneflowers, yarrow. These pay for themselves over time. THE PERENNIAL TRAP This is the one that costs people the most money. A plant is only a perennial if it survives YOUR winter. Not in general. It has to survive in your zone.