My first florida garden suffered from bugs. I used no insecticide. Afterward, I built a salvaged landscape block and brick "wall" around the garden in a honeycomb pattern to make small caves for lizards and toads. Bug situation improved 100fold. The lizards and toads work for free, all I needed to do was to give them shelter and they showed up on their own.
It is so strange how cultural differences and perceptions about guns garner so much attention. In so many places a gun is a tool used regularly just like on this homestead. It is great you are communicating the reality of this valuable tool, I know I wouldn't have the patience to keep explaining over and over. Keep up the great videos...
My wife and I are buying a house with 2.5 acres and a garden is a BIG part of our new site. Can't wait to get out there and use your tips to garden successfully and enjoy mother nature. Thank you for Video(s)
when gardening we use the rule--- one for the rook, one for the crow, one to let rot and one to grow--- this has worked great for us- seems regardless of how steadfast you are seems only 1 out of 4 seeds survives to produce food-and yes it is a daily battle if you are dependent on this food for survival- as for garden bugs we use a powder made from 1 cup cayenne pepper- 1 cup of black pepper- and 5 lbs of all purpose flour- we dust plants early in the morning after the dew and lasts for weeks- animals and bugs hate it- and its all natural- many blessings and thanks for the tips
+movinon04-- I got 1 out of 10 the first time I planted a garden. As I learned, the numbers got better. I like your saying. Shalom! How much space does your powder cover? I'd like to give it a try.
i really cant say how much space- all depends on how heavily you dust and how often- this mixture normally last us a full growing season- our gardens total aprox 40x60- hope this helps
Just today I got a squirrel with my fully automatic 2014 Ford Focus. . It was coming out of someone else's garden. I'm always willing to help out a neighbor. LOL
Hello to you all up there at American Homestead! My bf Rick and I love your show and have seen every one of them from Roku. We wanted to get on youtube though to "like" them officially and to express how much we are inspired and uplifted by you good folks. Blessings!
You are dead right about guns and gardens. My father gardens with a 45 revolver on his hip. He lives in Texas. Texas has 5 kinds of big snakes; 4 are venomous and the 5th eats eggs and young chicks. Over the years, my father shot a handful of copperheads, a rattlesnake, and one moccasin.
Read up on companion planting. One small part of companion planting is planting things that attract ladybugs, they eat aphids. Other plants attract predatory wasps that help take out hornworms. Some ways you plant will also increase flavor and virus resistance in other plants. Plant alliums(onions and garlic) under fruit trees to help keep away moths,... etc..
What we did was using steel pipe we build a frame around and over our garden, then we dug a small trench around the edges and we wrapped the entire thing with Golf ball netting and into the ditch. Not even a small bird can get in it.
Great video, my current problem right now is gophers. Those little suckers have already ruined 3 tomato plants, 2 pumpkins, 1 sunflower, and about 6 stocks of corn. This has to be my worst year for gophers.
If you use humic acid silica sand the plants cell structure will be o hard for insects to eat. plus you will recieve the silica you need...great for your immue system...
don't know if it was mentioned but blood meal is said to keep "prey" animals away. probably would work with urine. make a couple of mouser cats and a dog breed used for borrow animal hunting. for the rats and the groundhogs.
Just came across your channel on You Tube, and now, know how to process sunflower seeds, thanks, and subscribed. As watching his film, was hoping you would comment on how o control, squash beetles, squash bugs, whatever they are called. Would love to be able to grow, zucchini, squash, cucumbers and pumpkins, but is all but a loosing battle, some years, they've even gone for watermelon and honey dew plants, and seen them on tomato plants! Please, any advice you might share would certainly be appreciated! Gretchen Belken
I've only heard this, but from many gardeners, that mint herb eliminates rodents such as rats, mice, moles, squirrels and rabbits. The gardenrs who use this method plant a border of mint herb around their garden fences and home foundations even, to prevent rodents. The mint is edible and fragrant, it is perrenial, and nearly impossible to kill off. It does spread though, so you need to manage it's growth.
+Scott Jenkins That is a great tip!! Thank you. That is something I can do. I live in a rural suburb. I can't be shooting things. LOL This makes sense to me because I planted some cabbage in an herb and onion bed. Right behind the cabbage is MINT. It may be the only cabbage I have survive. It's beautiful! I guess I need to start spreading that mint around. It can't possibly grow fast enough for me. I'm serious. LOL
The Appalachians YET is the key word. LOL You will! That's all I have. You name it...I've got it. I even saw wood ducks watching me from the trees the other morning in the garden. First time I've seen those in the 20 + years we've lived here. The closest pond or small lake is about a mile away. But, I've got wood ducks in my trees. Just something else to deal with.
Having horses keeps the snakes away. I have never seen a snake on my property until I moved the horses. Also cats are great for raccoons, who don't like cats that can climb. Plus, I use electric fence to keep the neighbors cows outta my property. The cows destroy fences. His cows will actually jump over a fence and smash it down. Great video, thanks! But I use an AK. Lol!
Zach, love your videos. Rabbits don't climb hog panels, they are squeezing through them or burrowing under them. You might want to consider putting the ends of the hog panels at least 6 inches in the ground. Also, you might want to try running chicken wire along the hog panels and attaching them to the hog panel with zip ties or wires, thereby making smaller openings for mice, rats, and snakes, as well as bigger critters. Yes rodents can chew through if they are zealous enough, but then you can do a simple mend. Just my advice.
+Sand Angels the cattle panels you see in the video are just acting as a trellis. The fence we have has much smaller holes that rabbits can't really fit into unless small. But rabbits will climb chicken wire or small fencing up to 4 feet or dig under it.
+An American Hmm. When I was a kid, my mom thought she had a rabbit going over the chain-link fence around her garden and eating her crops. She came to that conclusion after thoroughly inspecting the ground along the fence and the fence itself. Well, It was going over the fence. But it wasn't a rabbit, it was me ;)
a cheaper alternative to your conibear traps but requires a little bit of practice is figure 4 Deadfall snares Mojave scissor trap and for birds the Chippewa bird snare can all be made from materials found on the homestead for free once again this requires a little bit of practice
We've been homesteading for many years now, but I've been led to become Torah observant within the last month, and I need to plan my 60 x 70 ft garden. Question: Do you let the land lie fallow every 7 years, or do you rotate plots by sevens? How do you know when to let it lie fallow? (We're trying to be totally self sufficient in the north-east. Jersey cows, Jacob sheep, chickens, ducks, geese, bees; foraging elderberries, wild leeks and greens in spring. We just got small draft horses for plow power, but still have to learn everything in that realm.) Thanks!
My little knowledge on that is, is the can is welded to the barrel it's not classified as a SBR and so all that you have to have is the tax stamp for the can. just an idea.
Great video! Soooo, you shouldn't use snake shot for aphids?..... Seems quite liberal... LOL Just kidding. I have never heard of Neem Oil. Will need to check it out. As I am terrible at getting our gardens started... I have been soooo busy this year that I haven't been able to get things going.... Ya'll are simply unbelievable! God Bless!
Hey Zac, how often do you have to apply your Neem Oil / Sal Suds solution to your plants? Do you apply it on a set schedule, or on demand? Also, how fast do you see it working? Thanks!
+The Appalachians Every day after a rain. So sometimes you have to do it a lot. But if it rains for 2-3 days in a row, I just wait till its over and then reapply.
When you kill these animals, do you eat them and use the furs? I know that it's against your religion to eat unclean foods, but do you put them to good use or give them to someone to use? I always learn things from your videos. Please keep them coming.
+Ms WaddleDuck-- I could see cat perches set on the corner of a garden on posts. Like 4 corner towers of a fortress. Keep out birds and rodents. Make them nice with carpeted scratch posts, shade and shelter from the sun and rain, and a flat lounging space and they would probably attract cats. Feed them minimally to keep them "hungry" lol.
Does the oil/suds solution kill the bugs or just drive them away? I have several things that need pollinators and wouldn't want to kill them off but our fruit trees and garden just get attacked so hard. We tend to get a lot of mantis too and they help but not as much as we need.
i call them bushy tailed tree rats.LOL check out the videos using rat traps to get them thinned down?u never get rid of them but controlling there population is a must,they chew everything including wiring in your vehicles and equipment
Question....last year I had the most beautiful carrot tops I thought I would have beautiful carrots. When I went to dig them something had eaten them from the bottom up. I still can't figure out what did it. any ideas? I live in zone 3. thank you.
zack, can I use neem oil in making my own bug repellent for spraying on skin? for instance mixing with tea tree oil and eucalyptus? just a thought.... thanks.
Not to get overly scientific, but how about you put only neem oil on one section of your garden, only Sal Suds on another section, both on a third section, and neither on a fourth section, then offer a comparison? Maybe the neem oil is doing most of the work, or maybe it's the Sal Suds. You already did an eye-opening comparison of oil-suds vs. non-oil-suds, so I'd be interested to see that done in a more broken-down and systematic manner. Just thought that might be of interest to you; it is to me. If I were half the gardener you are and had an eighth of the garden you have, I'd try it myself.
Another idea: I noticed on the Sal Suds ingredient list that the first listed ingredient (after water) was sodium lauryl sulfate. Sounds like shampoo. I wonder if shampoo or another detergent would be a cheaper and equally effective means of pest control. At $15 per quart, the Sal Suds is a lot more expensive than a bottle of cheap shampoo.
It doesn't work that way. You need the soap to help the oil to adhere to the plant. That is the purpose of combining the two...using them separate won't work very well.
And he handles those 'issues' VERY well. A 9mm AR IS a bit much but, a .22 or .25 cal psp air rifle WILL take care of ANY garden 'pest'. A brain shot to a doe deer with a .25 psp drops her in her tracks. Meat for the freezer, and the veggies thrive.
My first florida garden suffered from bugs. I used no insecticide. Afterward, I built a salvaged landscape block and brick "wall" around the garden in a honeycomb pattern to make small caves for lizards and toads. Bug situation improved 100fold. The lizards and toads work for free, all I needed to do was to give them shelter and they showed up on their own.
+Scott Jenkins YES! We have lots of lizards running around the garden...I need to make more shelter for them to operate in. great idea!
You had me at "guns and gardens go together" ! Thanks for the trap info!
It is so strange how cultural differences and perceptions about guns garner so much attention. In so many places a gun is a tool used regularly just like on this homestead. It is great you are communicating the reality of this valuable tool, I know I wouldn't have the patience to keep explaining over and over. Keep up the great videos...
GREAT INFORMATION. Thank you for providing information vital to many.
My wife and I are buying a house with 2.5 acres and a garden is a BIG part of our new site. Can't wait to get out there and use your tips to garden successfully and enjoy mother nature. Thank you for Video(s)
Nice!! Well done!! Gun's & Gardening!!!
when gardening we use the rule--- one for the rook, one for the crow, one to let rot and one to grow--- this has worked great for us- seems regardless of how steadfast you are seems only 1 out of 4 seeds survives to produce food-and yes it is a daily battle if you are dependent on this food for survival- as for garden bugs we use a powder made from 1 cup cayenne pepper- 1 cup of black pepper- and 5 lbs of all purpose flour- we dust plants early in the morning after the dew and lasts for weeks- animals and bugs hate it- and its all natural- many blessings and thanks for the tips
+movinon04-- I got 1 out of 10 the first time I planted a garden. As I learned, the numbers got better. I like your saying. Shalom! How much space does your powder cover? I'd like to give it a try.
i really cant say how much space- all depends on how heavily you dust and how often- this mixture normally last us a full growing season- our gardens total aprox 40x60- hope this helps
movinon04
Thanks. I just wanted to know if I needed 20 lbs of flour for a 20x30 garden or if I needed 1 lb.
Shalom
That is great! What kind of appliance do you use for dusting?
Just today I got a squirrel with my fully automatic 2014 Ford Focus. . It was coming out of someone else's garden. I'm always willing to help out a neighbor. LOL
Hello to you all up there at American Homestead! My bf Rick and I love your show and have seen every one of them from Roku. We wanted to get on youtube though to "like" them officially and to express how much we are inspired and uplifted by you good folks. Blessings!
You are dead right about guns and gardens. My father gardens with a 45 revolver on his hip. He lives in Texas. Texas has 5 kinds of big snakes; 4 are venomous and the 5th eats eggs and young chicks. Over the years, my father shot a handful of copperheads, a rattlesnake, and one moccasin.
Guns and gardening go together! Lol. Amen brother!
Read up on companion planting. One small part of companion planting is planting things that attract ladybugs, they eat aphids. Other plants attract predatory wasps that help take out hornworms. Some ways you plant will also increase flavor and virus resistance in other plants. Plant alliums(onions and garlic) under fruit trees to help keep away moths,... etc..
Great stuff! Thanks! I never even thought about this.
So my skills learned in the Marine Corps are going to be useful once I retire next month and move to my homestead! Semper Fi! ;-)
I like the way you do business. Great vids, thanks for your service, and I hope your garden does well.
Thumbs Up for Gun's & Gardening !
+patriotpioneer Thanks!
Thank you for your continued service.
Thanks for your service.
"Why do you garden with a side arm...?" Why not?!! Shalom :)
What we did was using steel pipe we build a frame around and over our garden, then we dug a small trench around the edges and we wrapped the entire thing with Golf ball netting and into the ditch. Not even a small bird can get in it.
pellet guns work .177or 22 cal.
Not as much fun.
My kind of man !
Neem oil is fantastic. We used it on our pumpkins and watermelons
+Remote Tactical Yeah works great against leaf mildew as well for squash.
great video i enjoyed it thanks
I just imagined you taking out an aphid with your AR....LOL!
Thank you for your service!
good video!
I mostly get rabbits and squirrels and aphids, cabbage worms as the most common pests here in my garden.
Great video, my current problem right now is gophers. Those little suckers have already ruined 3 tomato plants, 2 pumpkins, 1 sunflower, and about 6 stocks of corn. This has to be my worst year for gophers.
Build several 'owl houses' to encourage Barn owls to populate the area. If it weren't for Barn owls, I'D be up to my azz in pocket gophers.
Interesting, Thanks for the tip.
If you use humic acid silica sand the plants cell structure will be o hard for insects to eat. plus you will recieve the silica you need...great for your immue system...
I can't think of a better reason to break into a connex lol great vid like always God bless
Better fence dig it into the ground. Keeps other pests out as well. Animals will show you the weakness
Fellow infantryman. I had a feeling. Love your channel. Keep it up.
Thank you !
Awesome vid !!!
don't know if it was mentioned but blood meal is said to keep "prey" animals away. probably would work with urine. make a couple of mouser cats and a dog breed used for borrow animal hunting. for the rats and the groundhogs.
13 rabbits and about 47 ground squirrels aka (chipmunks) last year.Chipmunks are really bad on root crops.
Just came across your channel on You Tube, and now, know how to process sunflower seeds, thanks, and subscribed. As watching his film, was hoping you would comment on how o control, squash beetles, squash bugs, whatever they are called. Would love to be able to grow, zucchini, squash, cucumbers and pumpkins, but is all but a loosing battle, some years, they've even gone for watermelon and honey dew plants, and seen them on tomato plants! Please, any advice you might share would certainly be appreciated! Gretchen Belken
I've only heard this, but from many gardeners, that mint herb eliminates rodents such as rats, mice, moles, squirrels and rabbits. The gardenrs who use this method plant a border of mint herb around their garden fences and home foundations even, to prevent rodents. The mint is edible and fragrant, it is perrenial, and nearly impossible to kill off. It does spread though, so you need to manage it's growth.
+Scott Jenkins That is a great tip!! Thank you. That is something I can do. I live in a rural suburb. I can't be shooting things. LOL This makes sense to me because I planted some cabbage in an herb and onion bed. Right behind the cabbage is MINT. It may be the only cabbage I have survive. It's beautiful! I guess I need to start spreading that mint around. It can't possibly grow fast enough for me. I'm serious. LOL
+Scott Jenkins Mint in our garden does nothing for the moles/voles. It's well-established and has spread over a wide area too.
+The Appalachians Does it repel above ground rodents? Maybe I was wrong to include underground rodents in my comment. My memory may not be clear.
No worries. :) Just throwing my experiences into the mix. I don't know about above ground rodents... we've not had any yet... yet...
The Appalachians YET is the key word. LOL You will! That's all I have. You name it...I've got it. I even saw wood ducks watching me from the trees the other morning in the garden. First time I've seen those in the 20 + years we've lived here. The closest pond or small lake is about a mile away. But, I've got wood ducks in my trees. Just something else to deal with.
I'm sorry but this is hilarious 😂😂😂
Guns & Gardening
Having horses keeps the snakes away. I have never seen a snake on my property until I moved the horses. Also cats are great for raccoons, who don't like cats that can climb. Plus, I use electric fence to keep the neighbors cows outta my property. The cows destroy fences. His cows will actually jump over a fence and smash it down. Great video, thanks! But I use an AK. Lol!
+alice coppers Our donkey would kill snakes. We would just find them laying around dead.
+An American Homestead yea, the donkey/mules are smarter and I wish mine were still here. Love mules and donkeys.
Neem is a type of mahogany .
Zach, love your videos. Rabbits don't climb hog panels, they are squeezing through them or burrowing under them. You might want to consider putting the ends of the hog panels at least 6 inches in the ground. Also, you might want to try running chicken wire along the hog panels and attaching them to the hog panel with zip ties or wires, thereby making smaller openings for mice, rats, and snakes, as well as bigger critters. Yes rodents can chew through if they are zealous enough, but then you can do a simple mend. Just my advice.
Also, make sure you tie the chicken wire onto the outside of the panel fence. That way it will be more sturdy from the outside.
+Sand Angels the cattle panels you see in the video are just acting as a trellis. The fence we have has much smaller holes that rabbits can't really fit into unless small. But rabbits will climb chicken wire or small fencing up to 4 feet or dig under it.
+An American
Hmm. When I was a kid, my mom thought she had a rabbit going over the chain-link fence around her garden and eating her crops. She came to that conclusion after thoroughly inspecting the ground along the fence and the fence itself. Well, It was going over the fence. But it wasn't a rabbit, it was me ;)
+Sand Angels LOL
a cheaper alternative to your conibear traps but requires a little bit of practice is figure 4 Deadfall snares Mojave scissor trap and for birds the Chippewa bird snare can all be made from materials found on the homestead for free once again this requires a little bit of practice
Posted on my FB, "finally a man worthy of a true electoral vote".
We've been homesteading for many years now, but I've been led to become Torah observant within the last month, and I need to plan my 60 x 70 ft garden. Question: Do you let the land lie fallow every 7 years, or do you rotate plots by sevens? How do you know when to let it lie fallow?
(We're trying to be totally self sufficient in the north-east. Jersey cows, Jacob sheep, chickens, ducks, geese, bees; foraging elderberries, wild leeks and greens in spring. We just got small draft horses for plow power, but still have to learn everything in that realm.)
Thanks!
My dogs had a ground hog treed near my garden. Didn't know they could do that. I had my pistol and took him out.
do a video on the homestead firearms you use
I would imagine that insects would be the biggest problem.
i"ve been following your channel for a long time,but I dont know your name or your wifes.mine is Greg Smith and im from Middle Ga
Zac your not even making it sportin with a 9mm . what a good reason for a Form 1
+overdbus I hear ya. Would love to get a SBR and a can.
you still have a few days left to get the paper work done ,before "they" change it and make it harder.
My little knowledge on that is, is the can is welded to the barrel it's not classified as a SBR and so all that you have to have is the tax stamp for the can. just an idea.
"why are you gardening with a sidearm on your hip???" cause merica! Lol just kidding. Because you can that's why. Lol
Great video! Soooo, you shouldn't use snake shot for aphids?..... Seems quite liberal... LOL Just kidding. I have never heard of Neem Oil. Will need to check it out. As I am terrible at getting our gardens started... I have been soooo busy this year that I haven't been able to get things going.... Ya'll are simply unbelievable! God Bless!
Hey Zac, how often do you have to apply your Neem Oil / Sal Suds solution to your plants? Do you apply it on a set schedule, or on demand? Also, how fast do you see it working? Thanks!
+The Appalachians Every day after a rain. So sometimes you have to do it a lot. But if it rains for 2-3 days in a row, I just wait till its over and then reapply.
I use my dog to ward off critters. I imagine traps wouldn't be great for my dog.
When you kill these animals, do you eat them and use the furs? I know that it's against your religion to eat unclean foods, but do you put them to good use or give them to someone to use? I always learn things from your videos. Please keep them coming.
Thanks OH 12b20p
Do you have a barn cat as well?
+Ms WaddleDuck-- I could see cat perches set on the corner of a garden on posts. Like 4 corner towers of a fortress. Keep out birds and rodents. Make them nice with carpeted scratch posts, shade and shelter from the sun and rain, and a flat lounging space and they would probably attract cats. Feed them minimally to keep them "hungry" lol.
I just ordered both. Do you know if the been and suds helps with grasshoppers?
i love this video,every thing is against the farmer u have to fight problems always...u know in a little dish of coke will kill your rats?
Zach, what is that galvanized fencing called at the hardware store?
Abe Thopanels.
Hog panels
Cattle panel 👍
What kind of soil do you use? Do you layer different things. I have never ever gardened before
Does the oil/suds solution kill the bugs or just drive them away? I have several things that need pollinators and wouldn't want to kill them off but our fruit trees and garden just get attacked so hard. We tend to get a lot of mantis too and they help but not as much as we need.
Do you guys obey the 7th year Sabbatical or do you believe it's only when you enter the land?
Any useful tips for squirrel problems? That is the biggest problem I have.
bloodmeal
i call them bushy tailed tree rats.LOL check out the videos using rat traps to get them thinned down?u never get rid of them but controlling there population is a must,they chew everything including wiring in your vehicles and equipment
Question....last year I had the most beautiful carrot tops I thought I would have beautiful carrots. When I went to dig them something had eaten them from the bottom up. I still can't figure out what did it. any ideas? I live in zone 3. thank you.
Voles would be my guess. They decimated my sweet potatoes one year.
You should really have the optic on the upper instead of the handgruard
Matthew Graves
It's a 9mm upper. It holds zero fine done that way, and you don't have to adjust every time you switch.
zack, can I use neem oil in making my own bug repellent for spraying on skin? for instance mixing with tea tree oil and eucalyptus? just a thought.... thanks.
+avonleanne Careful about putting it on your skin. Some testing suggest it will can reduce sperm count in human males.
may be a electrical wire would be a solution. solar powered;)
We have a groundhog eat our broccoli.
Will the neem oil - salsuds combat Colorado potato beetle? Thank you
+55sargeshotrods YES! Those are exactly the kind we have here and it works great! Just reapply after rain.
what is the opening song?
Sounds like pack rats know something about putting food by! Too bad they picked your veggies, though.
this is pretty funny...reminds me when i was so proud of my first okra plant...until the friggen squirrels raped it.
Not to get overly scientific, but how about you put only neem oil on one section of your garden, only Sal Suds on another section, both on a third section, and neither on a fourth section, then offer a comparison? Maybe the neem oil is doing most of the work, or maybe it's the Sal Suds. You already did an eye-opening comparison of oil-suds vs. non-oil-suds, so I'd be interested to see that done in a more broken-down and systematic manner. Just thought that might be of interest to you; it is to me. If I were half the gardener you are and had an eighth of the garden you have, I'd try it myself.
Another idea: I noticed on the Sal Suds ingredient list that the first listed ingredient (after water) was sodium lauryl sulfate. Sounds like shampoo. I wonder if shampoo or another detergent would be a cheaper and equally effective means of pest control. At $15 per quart, the Sal Suds is a lot more expensive than a bottle of cheap shampoo.
It doesn't work that way. You need the soap to help the oil to adhere to the plant. That is the purpose of combining the two...using them separate won't work very well.
Why waste 9mm ammo.....cheaper more effective ammo if your a good shot ..22lr ..air riffle....or 22mag....why waste ammo
this guy has issues!
And he handles those 'issues' VERY well. A 9mm AR IS a bit much but, a .22 or .25 cal psp air rifle WILL take care of ANY garden 'pest'. A brain shot to a doe deer with a .25 psp drops her in her tracks. Meat for the freezer, and the veggies thrive.