Huckleberry Homestead

07/23/2024

It’s time to start planning for August! I’ve got to start seeds for tomatoes and peppers this week to get a jump start. What are you growing?

07/09/2024

I’ll be out of the country for the next two weeks with my eldest daughter in Japan, but if you need any backyard fresh poultry butt nuggets (🐓🥚🍳) my husband will be able to put cartons together! Send us a message to coordinate.

06/26/2024

There are so many delicious things to plant in July! What are you planting? I already have most on this list already growing in the garden but I need to start tropical spinach, more pumpkin, and chayote.

The edibles to plant in July aren’t just savory! If you have a sweet tooth, try growing roselle, sugarcane, papaya, or pineapple this month.

Find the text and printable versions of this infographic on UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions: https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/plants/edibles/what-to-plant-in-july/

06/24/2024

06/13/2024

The zinnias are ✨popping✨ this morning! I am loving seeing this super bright pink. It’s not too late to start zinnias, I just chaos sprinkled some in some empty spots..so if you haven’t had a chance to do zinnias yet now’s your chance!

06/10/2024

For me fellow Floridians, what flowers are you planting this month?

Want to add some fiery colors to your summer garden? Amaranth, balsam, celosia, crossandra, gaillardia, and tropical sage are all striking options that can be planted this month.

Find the text and printable versions of this infographic on UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions: https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/plants/plant-of-the-month/what-to-plant/flowers-to-plant-in-june.html

06/05/2024

Yes you CAN grow peaches in Florida!

Our peach trees are ✨finally✨ pulling their weight! We have two peach trees currently; a Tropic Sweet and a Tropic Snow.

Peach trees require certain chill hours and some varieties require more than others. Here in zone 9a/b Florida we have to find varieties that have lower chill hour requirements to flower and set fruit.

Peaches also come in white flesh or yellow fresh. White is best for fresh eating while yellow is best for canning purposes (due to acidity). Tropic Snow is a white flesh variety and Tropic Sweet is a yellow flesh variety; I wanted one of each so we could enjoy some fresh off the tree and be able to preserve for pies and jams and lemonades.

03/30/2024

03/29/2024

This cute puddle of lil gothic ducklings is straight out of the incubator! Cayuga are new to our homestead and we are SO SO excited to begin working with this breed that is currently listed as “threatened” with the American Livestock Conservancy. Cayuga will be our first waterfowl project and hopefully by late fall we will be able to offer eggs and chicks. 🐣 How many do you think are in this ducky pile?

03/16/2024

This is the best thing on the interweb today. Tell me I’m wrong.

03/14/2024

The girls are getting back into the “swing of things” and we are collecting a beautiful bounty of fresh rainbow 🥚🥚daily. If you need some fresh backyard raised free range nuggets let me know! 📍Pickup in Navarre.

03/12/2024

Nope. That is not a Marans egg. Penelope, my Patridge Penedesenca, has started laying and I could not be more eggggcited!

One of the goals for Huckleberry Homestead is to focus on conservatory and endangered poultry and waterfowl, and while everyone and the second cousin Trishalynn is working with and offering Marans for the dark brown eggs, I have decided to focus on Penesenca as they are very rare in the US and have been brought back from near extinction in Spain, their country of origin.

They are heat tolerant (perfect for the South and Southwest USA), great foragers, and watchful of predators. They lay extremely dark red-brown eggs often described as wet terracotta and in Spain the breeders have worked very hard to get the eggs to an almost black-brown color.

Unfortunately the American Poultry Association does not recognize the breed yet, but that is something that can be worked towards as we work on shedding light on this amazing breed.

**unedited photo**

03/10/2024

Good morning from the heritage turkey poults, marans, and silkie babies!!

03/09/2024

Meet Nugget, one of the newest additions to the homestead. It’s hard to believe this cute little sleepy poult is going to grow up to be a large and in charge turkey! 🦃

09/26/2023

RECALL ALERT!

RECALL ALERT - Purina is voluntarily recalling Game Bird 30% Protein Starter Crumbles - Optimum Nutrition for Strong starts and healthy Game Birds and Turkeys - Net Wt. 40 lbs. - as it may contain elevated selenium. More info: https://bit.ly/45aCvJ8

09/17/2023

THE 7 TOP GARDEN PESTS--WHAT WORKED AND DIDN'T

Here is some good information from a survey that Mother Earth News did to learn more about what works, and doesn't, when it comes to limiting insect damage in organic vegetable gardens. They had 1300 gardeners from across the United States respond, so is pretty good. I've included 7 of the top garden pests and info:

1) SLUGS-- took top honors as the most bothersome pest in home gardens, with 55 percent of respondents saying the slimy critters give them trouble year after year. Handpicking was highly rated as a control measure (87 percent success rate), followed by iron phosphate baits (86 percent) and diatomaceous earth (84 percent). Opinion was divided on eggshell barriers (crushed eggshells sprinkled around plants), with a 33 percent failure rate among gardeners who had tried that slug control method. An easy home remedy that received widespread support was beer traps (80 percent success rate).

2) SQUASH BUGS-- had sabotaged summer and winter squash for 51 percent of respondents, and even ducks couldn’t solve a serious squash bug problem. Most gardeners reported using handpicking as their primary defense, along with cleaning up infested plants at season’s end to interrupt the squash bug life cycle. The value of companion planting for squash bug management was a point of disagreement for respondents, with 21 percent saying it’s the best control method and 34 percent saying it doesn’t help.

Of the gardeners who had tried it, 79 percent said spraying neem on egg clusters and juvenile squash bugs is helpful. About 74 percent of row cover users found them useful in managing squash bugs.

3) APHIDS-- were on the watch list of 50 percent of respondents, but the success rates of various control techniques were quite high. Active interventions, including pruning off the affected plant parts and applying insecticidal soap, were reported effective, but so were more passive methods, such as attracting beneficial insects by planting flowers and herbs. Several readers noted the ability of sweet alyssum and other flowers to attract hoverflies, which eat aphids. “We attract a lot of beneficials by planting carefree flowers in the vegetable garden, including calendula, borage, zinnias, cosmos and nasturtiums” (Midwest, more than 20 years of experience).

4) SQUASH VINE BORERS-- had caused problems for 47 percent of the survey respondents. The best reported control methods were crop rotation and growing resistant varieties ofCucurbita moschata, which includes butternut squash and a few varieties of pumpkin. TheC. moschata varieties are borer-resistant because they have solid stems. Interestingly, if you’re attempting to fend off squash vine borers, lanky, long-vined, open-pollinated varieties of summer squash (zucchini and yellow crookneck, for example) may fare better than hybrids, because OP varieties are more likely to develop supplemental roots where the vines touch the ground.

Many gardeners dump soil over these places, so if squash vine borers attack a plant’s main stem, the plant can keep on growing from its backup root system.

5) JAPANESE BEETLES-- Forty-six percent of respondents reported working in the unwelcome company of Japanese beetles, with handpicking being the most popular control method. Some gardeners grow trap crops of raspberries or other fruits to keep Japanese beetles away from plants. Several commonly used interventions — garlic-pepper spray, milky spore disease, pheromone traps and row covers — had high failure rates.

6) TOMATO HORNWORMS-- were of concern to 42 percent of our survey respondents. Bt and handpicking were the preferred control methods, and several folks commented that tomato hornworms are among the easiest garden pests to handpick (probably because they’re large, easy to spot and produce a telltale, pebbly trail). Many gardeners reported seeing tomato hornworms often covered with rice-like cocoons of parasitic braconid wasps. “I had a lot of tomato hornworms this year, but the wasps took them out! Just like in the photos online and in bug books!” (Mid-Atlantic, more than 20 years of experience). Gardeners named zinnias and borage as good companion plants for reducing hornworm problems.

7) CUTWORMS-- were a concern for 41 percent of respondents, and effectiveness ratings for using rigid collars (made from plastic drinking cups or cardboard tissue rolls) to protect young seedlings from damage were amazingly high (93 percent effectiveness rating). A common practice to reduce cutworm damage is to cultivate the soil’s surface once or twice before planting and hope robins and other bug-eating birds will swoop in to gather the juicy cutworms. Big, sturdy seedlings are naturally resistant to cutworms, so many gardeners said they set out seedlings a bit late to avoid cutworm damage.

There are more Garden Pests than listed here, but wanted to list the Top 7 that Families ask about.

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We also have 8 other Heirloom Seed Packages, and all our individual varieties in Stock Now on our Seed Guy website at https://theseedguy.net/15-seed-packages
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09/14/2023

Let’s learn how to make vanilla extract together! Who knew it was this easy? The FB group referenced in the video is Indri's Vanilla Bean Group.

Remember, you need 1oz of vanilla beans for 8oz of alcohol for a single fold and 2oz of vanilla beans for 8oz of alcohol for double fold. Make sure to use 35%ABV (70 proof) alcohol minimum and let it sit for 12-18 months for the best flavor (longer for darker alcohol like rum and brandy).

Jars: https://amzn.to/3RgiAFq
Labels: https://amzn.to/44QZY1V

08/23/2023

I know not every homesteader nor chicken keeper loves cockerels but I am and always have been a fan of roosters in the flock; in fact the more the merrier in my humble opinion. I won’t put up with hen aggressive or overtly human aggressive cockerels, those fellas go straight the the crockpot..or “cockpot” as I jest sometimes. 😂

Ernie is the head honcho of our main flock and he’s not only growing more handsome as he gets older but he has the perfect personality. He’s protective of his ladies, ambivalent towards the human chicken tenders, and has a hilariously weird crow that isn’t obnoxious (haven’t been able to catch that on video yet).

08/22/2023

I’m trying my hand at fermenting with a immunity boosting home remedy for colds/flu season. It’s a mixture of peeled and chopped garlic, turmeric, and ginger covered in local raw honey. It’s going to sit in a cool dark spot in the pantry to ferment and then we can take spoonfuls as needed or even drizzle the mixture on various foods or make a hot honey tea.

Normally people add a smidge of crushed black pepper so that the piperine in the pepper aids in the absorption of the curcumin found in turmeric but since a majority of what I cook contains either black pepper, pepper fruits (bell, cayenne, jalapeño etc. which are also a great source of piperine) or a healthy fat source such as avocado, olive oil, nuts, fish, etc I left it out of this batch.

Cross your fingers I don’t screw this up..it’s a lot of good garlic and honey I don’t want wasted. 😂

XoXo ❤ Brittany

08/18/2023

If there is one thing I’ve got, it’s opinions. Lots and lots of opinions..er “tips”. 😂

08/18/2023

Anyone else’s chick just over your sh*t? Just ours? Mmmkay. 😂 Roseanne is getting sick of the phone always in her face for pictures.

07/31/2023

I don’t know, that looks more like 10 to me. 😂🐓

07/16/2023

The limit doesn’t exist. 🐓

05/20/2023

We’ve got an extra dozen backyard fresh free range butt nuggets from this morning’s egg collecting unspoken for! 🥚🍳 📍Navarre, FL

05/19/2023

Due to being stood up for Prom we’ve still got a few bachelors looking for flocks to call their own!

Up for discussion:

5 Mille Fleur D’Uccle Bantam Cockerels 13 weeks old
1 Barred Rock Cockerel 9 weeks old
1 Porcelain D’Uccle Bantam Cockerel 11 weeks old

We are located in Navarre. PM for more info!

05/15/2023

Here is some of what is growing and blooming in our little homestead garden today. Gardening in Florida isn’t for the faint of heart. Stay hydrated, put in your sunscreen, and remember progress over perfection.

05/13/2023

Share this with your other chicken math victim friends. 😂🐓

05/13/2023

We’ve got a few bachelors looking for flocks to call their own. ❤️ These Mille Fleur D’Uccle cockerels are 12 weeks old and ready to “fly the coop”, message us for more info! 📍Navarre, FL

05/01/2023

Some of the beauties our ladies laid today. ❤️

The blue egg is from Gretchen our Cream Legbar, the tan egg is from Daisy our Buff Orphington, and the speckled egg is from Ashley our Welsummer.