Welcome to the TGN Forums!

135678

Comments

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    Welcome all! Wow, such diversity!

    @Gardenmama I whole heartedly agree! It's nice to see more homeschoolers joining us.

  • mcarryon
    mcarryon Posts: 32 ✭✭✭

    Hi, I'm Mary Carrion. I live in Upstate South Carolina, about 40 minutes northwest of Greenville. I have a very small farm where I raise Jacob sheep, chickens, bees, and vegetables. I attended school for Sustainable Agriculture and Clemson New and Beginning Farmers. I am now putting what I learned into practice. I am in my late sixties and have come up with easier ways to do some of the farm chores. I practice no till farming and use no chemicals. It has been a great experience and look forward to sharing with you all.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    @mcarryon Welcome here!

  • MelissaLynne
    MelissaLynne Posts: 205 ✭✭✭

    I have a question...when is it appropriate to use vote up or vote down? What does it do?

  • Raye
    Raye Posts: 15 ✭✭✭

    Hello everyone..I live in Alabama, I'm a RN, currently studying herbalism. My husband and I have decided on a slower pace for our life and we currently have a small garden, some chickens and rabbits. We are fairly new to this, but determined to make it happen. I'm glad to be here and hope to learn a lot from this group.

  • tilathehunn
    tilathehunn Posts: 168 ✭✭✭

    Greetings to all...I too am a newbie. I too have agonized over what to post. Thank you everyone for your postings, that has helped me to figure out how and where to start. So much, but I would like to keep it simple. My name is Lori, I live in Long Beach, CA, zone 9-10 according to some maps. Sunset Garden, I believe I live in zone 22. I work full time as a Respiratory Therapist. I developed asthma as an adult. It was certainly life changing. One positive thing I can say about it is, I understand the condition. You may be wondering why I am mentioning this...it is because of asthma I developed an interest in Herbal Medicine. The medications used to control asthma are rough and even though I have been dealing with this for decades, I still cannot tolerate all the medications and have had to use herbs as adjunct therapy. They have been my life saver more than once. I garden, I love to garden, one goal is to grow my own herbs over wild crafting since I live in the city. The human population is too high for the environment to support wildcraft near here. I am not against it, as long as it is ethical and wildlife can still be supported. I just prefer to grow what I can and then support the small herb farms. I live with my partner, 2 Australian Shepherds, Hansel and Gretel, who I dote on and also use herbs to help them. 3 cats, a red ear slider (turtle) and fish. We raise butterflies. Primarily monarchs but thanks to my concern over 3 rogue caterpillars I found in our mugwort and were at risk for being terminated we also raise other butterflies, mostly Texas Fritillary butterflies. I am currently studying Herbal Medicine with Julie James here in Long Beach. An amazing, science based teacher. I would love to work/volunteer in a free clinic as a Herbalist/Allopath. I have spent time in the field studying desert plants and am looking forward to learning more about indigenous peopIes uses. Last year, was my first year canning preserves on my own. I usually worked with my mother canning and preserving. She has passed away and I am proud to say, the plum jam I made came out to rave reviews. I would Love to have chickens but am afraid the dogs would "worry them to death". I would love to have a bee hive, my current obsession is varietal honey, I wonder how long I could keep bees in the city before anyone would notice? I am Very Excited to be here and have a lot to share. I look forward to sharing and learning from so many like minded people. Peace, L.

  • Noel Davey
    Noel Davey Posts: 30 ✭✭✭

    Hi , I am from Australia, i am urban living and am looking to learn and share my experience which plants have captured my imagination and curiosity also the creatures which help and live by plants including us humans. Have been worm farming for a number of years. And a member of a local community garden not far from the place i call home .Over time grew more and more plants to eat or help heal the body , spirit and the mind. Also share a back yard veggie garden. and have a balcony garden.

    Once a month we have a stall at the local market selling seedlings , plants and saved seeds , most of the time we are helping people grow and i am always getting people chatting about growing plants which i feel the community really enjoy as much a i do.

    Hope to help expand everyone's growing experience.

  • judsoncarroll4
    judsoncarroll4 Posts: 5,490 admin

    Welcome! Clemson has some great programs... sure wish they would offer them online! I asked the Dean of the Ag school and the head of the distance program... they said they would present it to the Board.

  • judsoncarroll4
    judsoncarroll4 Posts: 5,490 admin
    edited June 2020

    Feel free to use the thumbs up button any time you like what is posted. More judicious use of the thumbs down is appreciated - it tends to hurt people's feelings. If you have any issues or concerns regarding a post, please let one of the mods/admins know and we will deal with it. A lot of times, folks hit "flag" by mistake. If you do see spam, please send us a note as well as flagging it, so we know for sure.

  • judsoncarroll4
    judsoncarroll4 Posts: 5,490 admin

    Welcome! You have a nice, long growing season in Alabama - very good choice!

  • judsoncarroll4
    judsoncarroll4 Posts: 5,490 admin

    Welcome! Please share your knowledge of using herbs for asthma. I have had asthma since I was 5. I had to stop using the prescription meds as well, when I began to have cardiac issues from years of using them. Codonopsis/Dang Shen has helped me a lot.

  • judsoncarroll4
    judsoncarroll4 Posts: 5,490 admin

    Welcome! It is always good to hear from someone who has experience gardening for market. Please do share your knowledge with us!

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    I would like to extend a huge welcome to the newbies! Each one of you certainly will have something unique to add here to the TGN forum family and we are grateful for that.

    We are looking forward to getting to know all of you better.

  • nicksamanda11
    nicksamanda11 Posts: 755 ✭✭✭✭

    Hi everyone, my name is Amanda and I'm in Nashville, TN. I am passionate about foraging and all things that tumble downstream from that. So naturally that would include making my own herbal medicines, growing my own foragable plants and trees, and all kinds of interesting new foods!

  • velokigate
    velokigate Posts: 6 ✭✭✭

    Hi! I'm Sherrie, a fading, worn out redhead, who is 6 years old in my heart. I'm from a long line of agrarians...subsistence farmers in my lifetime...pioneers in the Appalachians. I love soil and all it stands for. I'm a "preacher of life under our feet" to whomever will listen.

    Hubby and I have 10 acres, with awesome views, populated with chickens, ducks, goats, fish, dogs, cats, and an occasional black snake. He is a long-haul trucker so a lot of our farm duties are mine. I practice regenerative agriculture as much as possible, trying to do what I can to help heal this land. Life is interesting in a body where the mind says "you can do it" and the parts that are needed say "NO WAY!"

    I write a weekly gardening column for the local newspaper, am a freelance ag writer for a non-profit, and have a great "best-seller" on the back burner. I love learning and sharing all things "dirt". I'm happy to be included in your group!


  • judsoncarroll4
    judsoncarroll4 Posts: 5,490 admin

    Welcome! Foraging is a big passion of mine, too... we have a lot of foragers here and always welcome info, photos, recipes, etc.

  • judsoncarroll4
    judsoncarroll4 Posts: 5,490 admin

    Welcome! I'm an Appalachian agrarian, too! We'd love to read your article if you'd like to post links.

  • erikawinterton
    erikawinterton Posts: 98 ✭✭✭

    Hi, My name is Erika! My family and I live in North Easter Utah (aka the Desert). I currently have a .40 acre homestead with way too many things in one tiny area including: seasonal garden, half-way-finished green house, compost bins, 6 Mini-Lamancha Dairy Goats, 45 laying hens, 5 roosters, a mini flock of Silkies, 13 Silver Fox Rabbits (soon to be more!), two kittens, and big dreams for expansion!

    We would like to move our place to another plot of land and expand our opperation to incorporate mushroom cultivation, market gardens, goat shares, and more!

    The catch right now is developing this bone dry dessert scape into a lush, thriving, and water rich parcel. We will be on new adventures through the next few years which include witching for water, well establishment, tree cultivation, dairy shares, establishing fencing, marketing produce, CSA set-up, vermicompost, hightunnels, mushroom cultures, herbs, and so much more!

    Our orientation to traditional forms of medicine (like herbs, colloidal minerals, essential oils, energy medicine, homeopathy, movement, and clean food) has been developed over some instances of disenfranchisement with western medicine. Along with some personal health issues that where not acknowledged in that approach to medicine. Including anxiety, depression, PTSD, PMDS. As well as, issues such as allergies to food dyes, brain fog, inflamation, hormonal imbalance, seasonal illnesses, low blood pressure, and other issues related to sugar and food toxicity.

    I am so glad to be in such a educationally rich place with wonderful people. I look forward to getting to know many of you and learning alot!


    Erika.

  • erikawinterton
    erikawinterton Posts: 98 ✭✭✭

    This Is quite shocking, but I suppose our society has been conditioned to taking the quick fix solution. Albeit the bandage that masks the actually underlying problem.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    Welcome @erikawinterton! There is certainly a lot of knowledge to tap here. It is great to have you be a part of it all.

  • erikawinterton
    erikawinterton Posts: 98 ✭✭✭

    All the things I am ambitious to do, but lack the dedication to it. I love your mentality on it though! Make it yourself so that it is less toxic. That is amazing! What type of homeschooling programs do you work with? Or do you DIY that too? ;-) Lol.

  • lucillegail
    lucillegail Posts: 1 ✭✭✭

    Hello All. I live in SC but grew up in Ohio. I'll be homeschooling for the first time this year and really looking forward to it. I am extremely interested in all natural gardening and everything that goes along with it: chickens, vermicomposting, seed saving, seed starting, composting, canning, and soil biology to list a few.

    My current project is to make a garden/coop where I would rotate chicken run and garden every year. It has been something I wanted to do for years, but with young kids, it was hard to have the time. Here is the link that I got my idea from. https://www.backwoodshome.com/save-time-and-energy-with-the-fenced-chicken-coopgarden/

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    Hi @lucillegail! Welcome to the TGN forum.

    I have been homeschooling many kids over many years. Our oldest is now gone from home. If you need any help, just let me know. I just created a thread for homeschoolers to connect through TGN. We need support whether homeschooling, exploring growing our own food & medicine, or foraging, etc. May our learning continue!

    You need to be mindful of the chicken poop in a garden & make sure it isn't too potent, killing plants. Otherwise, it is a great idea! Anything chicken, I can most likely help you out with too. I am known to be the crazy chicken lady by my kids, and most likely quite a few others. I love learning about birds!

  • Merin Porter
    Merin Porter Posts: 1,026 admin

    Agree with needing to be careful of chicken poop in the garden. I killed an entire bed of strawberry plants one year by amending the soil with chicken poop that had been allowed to sit, but not for long enough. Ugh. Live and learn....

  • VermontCathy
    VermontCathy Posts: 1,987 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Greetings, everyone!

    I am in Vermont, zone 4b. Although I grew up in a rural area, that was in zone 7. It took a few years to figure how to garden successfully in zone 4!

    My parents grew up during the Great Depression in the 1930s, and I absorbed a lot of frugality and self-sufficiency from them. They had an enormous garden, and Mom did a lot of canning and freezing.

    I try to grow as much of my vegetables and fruits as possible. Every year a few more raised beds get installed, a few more fruit bushes planted, and some new kind of seed tried. My husband isn't as enthusiastic, but he's happy to eat my home-grown peas, apple butter (from my own apples trees), and strawberry jam (from home-grown strawberries. :-)

    Now if I could just get my husband to agree to give me a greenhouse!

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    @catherine.james Welcome here!

  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    I just wanted to say WELCOME again to all our new friends as I am sure I have missed addressing some of you directly.

    I'm sure you will find joining this community to be very rewarding. It has been for me.

    In trying times such as we have been experiencing around the world, this is a safe place of positive growth and support. We all have so much to share and are all learning from each other.

    I hope everyone will take the time to do some of the TGN Academy classes. So much great information for beginners as well as the more experienced. Doc Jones is pretty cool and he gets referred to a lot on different threads.

  • shaley1357
    shaley1357 Posts: 33 ✭✭✭

    Hey, just got on the Forums. Checking in from Coastal NC USA. Living on a suburban homestead with a large garden, chickens, fruits trees, bushes and vines. Will be working on rainwater collection and irrigation this summer. Looking forward to learning and good conversations.

  • DitaMallon
    DitaMallon Posts: 7 ✭✭✭

    Hello from Iowa!

    A bit about myself. I grew up on a small dairy farm not to far from where I live now. I've always had a love for animals. My interest in being more self-sufficient started when we began homeschooling. We've had chickens for close to 15 years. I love learning about different ways to garden and garden more efficiently. I'm always experimenting. Had some successes along the way and some epic fails... but I keep trying. I love learning and using "wild" edibles and herbs. I try to be as self-sufficent as possble. Not all the way there yet but gaining ground. Hope to learn lots here and share what I know. Hopefully it will be of some use ;-)

    Keep growing, Dita

This discussion has been closed.