Studying Agriculture/Farming

[Urist]

Looks nice; large enough acreage for goats, sheep, cattle, etc. -- scenery is similar to my farm which is adjacent to the Magaliesberg.

Magalies meander is not that green, though i`m sure the estate agents fiddled a bit with the saturation.... nothing is that green.... Or i`ve lived too long in the NW.

 

[[)roi(]]

Magalies meander is not that green, though i`m sure the estate agents fiddled a bit with the saturation.... nothing is that green.... Or i`ve lived too long in the NW.

Depends on the time of year; winters are dry, but during summer it's certainly that green.

That advert was Hermanus.

 

[spiderz]

I have peafowls, but they're not that much different from ducks when it comes to what they eat. They have a big body so if you allow them access to your veggie gardens; you're going to lose a lot, because there is nothing they like more than new fresh sprouts. If I allowed my peafowl access to my gardens I'd never have any produce; hence the growing tunnels.

You also need to be aware that some vegetables attract more insects than others e.g. cabbage family (cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, ...) and unless you spray poisons you'll never end up with a successful harvest -- they btw also need a fungicide. Onions on the other hand need almost nothing except good composted soil, sun and regular watering.

Ever tried comanion plants like marigold ... (I'll have to go google it again)

 

[[)roi(]]

Ever tried comanion plants like marigold ... (I'll have to go google it again)

You're correct re marigolds; yes I tried that in the beginning; absolutely hopeless doesn't quite describe it.
A cabbage moth or ladybug doesn't give a shit about marigolds, or garlic, or bacillus thuringiensis, etc.

 

[biometrics]

You're correct re marigolds; yes I tried that in the beginning; absolutely hopeless doesn't quite describe it.
A cabbage moth or ladybug doesn't give a shit about marigolds, or garlic, or bacillus thuringiensis, etc.

I resigned to moving to my little greenhouse after the past year outside:

Spider mite
Caterpillar
Fungus
Ants
Aphids
Grasshopper
other stuff...

Wind!

 

[[)roi(]]

I resigned to moving to my little greenhouse after the past year outside:

Spider mite
Caterpillar
Fungus
Ants
Aphids
Grasshopper
other stuff...

That's the benefit of growing tunnels (farmer's green house); keeping pests at bay is much easier (including voracious peafowls); so too maintaining temperature for winter growing, and you can artificially add light and CO2 (the plants love the stuff).

If you're good at welding or a friend; you could make a small one fairly easily; with stuff you could buy at builders or a buco.

For example:

Greenhouse Tunnels South Africa - Greenhouses For Sale

Greenhouse tunnels South Africa, Greenhouses Gauteng, Nethouses Mpumalanga, Irrigation tunnels Limpopo, Hydroponic Tunnels Free State, Hobby Garden Tunnels

www.topgreenhousetunnels.co.za

 

[biometrics]

That's the benefit a growing tunnels (farmer's green house); keeping pests at bay is much easier; so too maintaining temperature for winter growing, and you can artificially add light and CO2 (the plants love the stuff)

For example:

Greenhouse Tunnels South Africa - Greenhouses For Sale

Greenhouse tunnels South Africa, Greenhouses Gauteng, Nethouses Mpumalanga, Irrigation tunnels Limpopo, Hydroponic Tunnels Free State, Hobby Garden Tunnels

www.topgreenhousetunnels.co.za

I got those spider mites in my greenhouse! Fuckers.

 

[biometrics]

Got one of these babies, often moer my head.

 

[[)roi(]]

Got one of these babies, often moer my head.

View attachment 5058

Far better than nothing. It's like beer brewing; you got to start somewhere; the rounded ceilings avoids most of the problems; that style has.
Do you pump in any CO2? You can buy bottles at Afrox; or just redirect an exhaust pipe

 

[biometrics]

Far better than nothing. It's like beer brewing; you got to start somewhere; the rounded ceilings avoids most of the problems; that style has.

It's become a cardboard dump site (many pandemic courier deliveries), been planning on sorting it out for spring.

 

[[)roi(]]

It's become a cardboard dump site, been planning on sorting it out for spring.

Take a break between brews; that looks perfect for a herb garden, spring onions, ...

 

[biometrics]

Take a break between brews; that looks perfect for a herb garden, spring onions, ...

It's a bit cramped but not bad (1.85m wide x 2.1m high x 2.45m long). What I need is terraced shelves.

 

[Düber]

The thing with a farm/smallholding is that people have this romantic idea of being self sufficient with cute animals walking around a beautiful garden.
The truth is that it is anything but that, it takes a lot of hard work just to keep it going. You spend more time fixing stuff like pipes, boreholes, fences, roofs, lights etc. than doing the interesting things you would like to do and then those take at least double the estimated time to do.
It is not for sisses, but I love it.

 

[[)roi(]]

The thing with a farm/smallholding is that people have this romantic idea of being self sufficient with cute animals walking around a beautiful garden.
The truth is that it is anything but that, it takes a lot of hard work just to keep it going. You spend more time fixing stuff like pipes, boreholes, fences, roofs, lights etc. than doing the interesting things you would like to do and then those take at least double the estimated time to do.
It is not for sisses, but I love it.

Agreed; it's not the life for anybody who is lazy. I'm not overwhelmed by maintenance; it's has to be done, but in most cases if there is something that needs a lot of maintenance -- it's probably time to replace it.

For example; I previously used German brand pressure pumps which were a pain in the butt (a design issue IMO); switched it out for Chinese made pumps and haven't had any problems for close om 10 years.

 

[BloodrayneZA]

If I were to get a smallholding I want to know what to do with it. Would probably be crops like grapes, veggies, herbs etc. I need to learn stuff like soil composition, testing and feeding it. Which crops would suit the soil type. What to grow together or rotated. Dealing with pests. Etc etc. So nothing super advanced, but comprehensive enough to have confidence in what I'm doing.

Google is your best friend. That’s how I learnt. I had to research how to care for blueberry bushes and send my mom the info bec I knew we were doing something wrong. 3 years in a row we’ve picked lots of blueberries and raspberries in our huge garden plus lots of other veggies and my herbs.

 

[BloodrayneZA]

For sure. Will take a few years though, but firmly in my mind...

Btw do you do things like having ducks to eat snails and stuff? How often do you end up having to use pesticides because more organic methods don't work or is too expensive?

That’s partly a myth. Chickens and ducks do eat insects and snails but they also scratch around the plants and I’ve seen the damage a single hen can do - it’s not pretty. They love greens so your greens will be gone in a jiffy. My mom has hens and I hand picked snails for them.

 

[[)roi(]]

That’s partly a myth. Chickens and ducks do eat insects and snails but they also scratch around the plants and I’ve seen the damage a single hen can do - it’s not pretty. They love greens so your greens will be gone in a jiffy. My mom has hens and I hand picked snails for them.

Exactly; they're very destructive.

 

[biometrics]

The thing with a farm/smallholding is that people have this romantic idea of being self sufficient with cute animals walking around a beautiful garden.
The truth is that it is anything but that, it takes a lot of hard work just to keep it going. You spend more time fixing stuff like pipes, boreholes, fences, roofs, lights etc. than doing the interesting things you would like to do and then those take at least double the estimated time to do.
It is not for sisses, but I love it.

I am very aware of this. So far haven't been able to keep a 12 sq m outdoor patch going (other than hardy plants like basil, rosemary and thyme). The mint seems to do it's own thing. My little greenhouse had an spider mite infestation last year.

 

[BloodrayneZA]

Exactly; they're very destructive.

Yeah the worse part of farming is dealing with plant disease and control.

white fly isn’t a joke. Treat early and regularly in the summer. Caterpillars eat everything. Fungus is a real issue. Tomato and potato blight to name a few.

 

[biometrics]

^And that is why I'm looking for a structured course. Not "it's on youtube".