Address all questions to
Aggie@Homestead.org
Dear
Aggie,
I need your help and
or advice.
How can I stop
peacocks from peeking on a motorhome? They see their refection in the
body paint and jump at the side of the motorhome with their feet as if
they are attacking another peacock.
If they don't stop
they might wind up in peacock heaven.
Can you give me a
suggestion in stopping these birds from destroying my motorhome?
Thanks
Linda
Dear Linda:
I note that you have
already considered murdering the peacocks. That would be option
number three. Option numbers one and two would be either 1. covering
the motor-home with something non-reflective, such as finger-paint, or
2. maintaining the peacocks in some sort of enclosure, such as a prison.
It’s as stark and simple as that, there are no other options. Should
you choose the first item, you need to bear in mind that this only
protects your motor-home, not the vehicles of people who visit you, who
may be more partial to Option number three.
Dear
Aggie,
I just came across this website and I have to ask you some questions. My
husband and I so badly want to move and live off the land. We are
living in a town where things just keep getting bigger and bigger.
We just don't know where to start and how to go about it. I read
the letter from Katie and David and you have some very good advice in
there. We also don't have very much money to do anything, but we
have two children. We have always talked about moving to the
mountains and living away from people. We are becoming more and
more the type of people who can not stand being in crowds. We have
always talked about raising our children in the country, so they can
have animals and have a place to run and have some fun without having to
worry about other people. Anyway... what I would like to know is how to
get started and I already have a way to make money here at home,
something that I just found out I can really do and love. We have
been thinking about selling just about everything we have and just
saying good bye to Delaware. I want to know if this is a good idea and
if we should do it. My husband is at that so-awfully-burned-out
point with his job, and we are wondering if we should just up and move
and live like we want to. Thank you for any help you can give us.
Dawn & Russell.
Dear Dawn
and Russell:
If you
have a way to make money at home that you find rewarding and enjoyable,
then you have already done the most important thing, provided this
source can accommodate the lifestyle that you want to live, that is,
that you can make enough money. So my first advice is to set about
doing whatever it is you are doing to maximum capacity. When you
have enough income, you are free to live where-ever you wish.
Second,
everyone should live the way they want to. If that is impossible
where you are now, then you probably should move, but you must keep the
long term in mind. If you are close to your families, for example,
you owe it to yourselves to make your move in such a way that you and
your children can remain close with other family members, whatever that
means to you.
Every
young organism needs to prosper in their favored environment. You
can transplant a seedling once or twice to it's advantage, but for it to
really make gains, it needs to put down roots. I can't tell you if
this is absolutely the right decision for you, but I can certainly
understand your discomfort living in an urban environment and I doubt
that this will improve with time. Also, it doesn't sound to me as
if there is a great deal keeping you where you are.
You will
probably have some difficulty in finding a place to rent in the country,
but persevere until you do. Once you've established a
beach-head in a community you like, you need to start saving and
shopping for a permanent home to buy. Do not try to move directly
to an unimproved piece of land. Do not take children into a new
situation that does not offer shelter, water, heat and electricity.
If you drive a car, it would behoove you to trade it for a truck. Have a
cell phone. Treat everyone fairly and honestly because in a rural
community, everyone tends to know everyone else. Respect fences and
other people's property. Work hard but rest regularly.
There are
a number of things you haven't told me which could be crucial here, so I
have to make assumptions. I'm assuming that your source of income
has the capacity to sustain you and that once you've launched yourselves
on a course of action, you are able to make sensible decisions when the
need arises.
Good luck.
Dear
Aggie,
I have been wanting to homestead for some time now, but have been unable
to. Now i just want to get away from it all, find a place of my own and
disappear. I live in California, and want to homestead. What
states still have active Homesteading laws on the east/west coast?
Where would I go to find out the homesteading laws and requirements?
Thanks for your help
Eric
Dear Eric,
Alas, you
have missed the boat, or the century to be more precise, as the last
free land from the (US) government was doled out in 1978, and that was
in one of the less-hospitable parts of Alaska.
To our
knowledge, and the chagrin of many, free land no longer exists.
Dear
Aggie;
I just returned from Brazil where sugarcane-based fuel is commonly used
to power cars. The installation of a computer chip in the engine makes
any car there able to use this fuel.
Please explain why this (or at least, an alcohol/gasoline mixture) is not
used in the US on a large scale.
Thank you.
David
Dear
David,
I
shall attempt to do so.
As far as
I am able to tell, there are three primary reasons why bio-fuels are not
in widespread use in the United States.
First, the
United States is a very wealthy country and because it is, the American
public has not been forced to seek out the most affordable fuels
available.
Second,
the petroleum industry itself is so wealthy and so well-lobbied that it
is able to exert profound influence on U.S. energy policy. Besides
billions of dollars worth of oil-drilling infrastructure investments,
they control thousands of service stations all over the country.
Third,
American farmers tend not to be so well represented by government and
less aggressive in promoting themselves. In the face of virtually
zero demand for bio-fuels, from an indifferent public, they have no
distribution system.
Dear
Aggie:
I read your piece on chiggers and am concerned that we may have a house
infestation. My husband is waking up in the morning with lines of bites
on various parts of his body, yet I am not affected. We had the same
problem last year and he fogged the room with Raid which contains
cypermethrin and that seemed to solve the problem. This year, however,
it seems to be worse and we have moved out of our bedroom into another
room where there seemed not to be a problem until last night when he had
another line of bites. He had been out mowing the grass yesterday, and I
am wondering if the problem might in fact be chiggers. I am also
concerned because he wants to use Raid again and I am concerned about
continued use of these chemicals. I should also mention that my husband
always seems to be more susceptible to bites such as mosquitoes than I
am.
Thanks.
Elizabeth
Dear
Elizabeth,
Since your
husband is the only one having the problem, and since you object to the
wholesale use of insecticides, as who wouldn't, might it make sense to
treat the problem a bit more locally? By that, I mean dousing your
spouse with a mild insect repellent with a tolerable odor, such as
Off? (Of course if the bites spread to you the next night, you may
wish to alter the process.)
If that
doesn't or hasn't worked, I'd suggest you investigate how the chiggers,
if that's your problem, got into your home in the first place. The
number one question is, do you have house pets? How about mice or
other animals who may have access to your home. Remember that
chiggers do not normally choose to live indoors.
Did he
shower thoroughly, shampoo and change clothes after mowing? Where
were the dirty clothes kept?
Remember
too, that there are several different insects and rodents which can
invade the home. Your descriptions don't really sound like how I
would describe chigger bites, but I assume you can judge this for
yourself.
Dear
Aggie,
After many years of wanting to live in the country and homestead, I
finally purchased 2 acres. I have come up with many ideas but they all
seem to get shot down by the “rules & laws”. What happened to good old
fashioned homegrown and homemade items? I don’t know what to do or where
to start. I really need some good suggestions or resources to help me
get started with homesteading. I would like to be able to make enough
money with my homestead that I don’t have to make the ½ hr commute every
morning. I know this will come with time but I don’t even know where to
begin. Can you give me some suggestions on were to go from here?
Tammy
Dear Tammy,
Yes, as a matter of fact, I can.
First of all, applaud your assumption that your acreage should produce
something more than a building site. If you can create an income
source at home, you'll save much more than time and gasoline, you'll
recover control of your own life and perhaps save your sanity as well.
Whatever
happened to homegrown and homemade? They were discredited in a
smear campaign that would make a national politician blush. In
their place, we now have a form of plastic entombment called "packaging"
and sufficient advertising to make the hopelessly gullible American
consumer fall for anything. Perhaps most of all, we have
convenience. Of the three, it's hard to find anything unpleasant
to say about convenience.
However,
now, more than ever, your computer allows you to compete with Corporate
America on very good terms using as assets your flexibility and personal
service which they can't equal.
You say
that your ideas keep getting shot down by regulations. I'm
assuming that you don't anticipate selling marijuana from a roadside
stand or printing money to compete with the federal government, so I'd
suggest that you look a little more closely at this. Do the rules
really make your business impossible, or do they only present a new
challenge? If you want to make money, you're going to be a
business and businesses all have certain regulations that they have to
abide by. If you're starting small, though, in most cases, the
governing body will allow you some latitude for small volume, so don't
ask yourself how you can get around the rules, ask yourself how you can
meet them.
I can't
tell you exactly what to do, because I don't know what you are capable
or desirous of, but I would suggest you find a product or service that
meets these criteria:
1. It has
to be something you would buy yourself. This requires you to be
honest with yourself.
2. It
should be something that you can't buy from major corporations.
Don't try to compete with Welch's for the North American grape jam
market, create a niche market for wild-grape jam.
3. Always
produce the very finest and never settle for "good enough". People
will remember an excellent product and buy it again. They will
also remember a shoddy one and avoid it ever after.
You need
to find the biggest market you can. This probably means the
internet, not a lemonade stand on the road outside your house.
This also probably means that you need to learn a few things about
mailing regulations.
By
necessity, you'll need to start out small, find something that works,
then do that same thing over and over again. This means that you
aren't likely to be quitting your job any time soon, but unless we have
some very wealthy relatives we're on good terms with, this is what we
all have to face. The sooner you start, the sooner you're free.
I suggest
you sit down and make a list of several of your best ideas, then try a
test of them all. One or two are bound to do noticeably better
than the others, when they do, note those, and do those things again.
Then you're in business.
I wish you
much good luck.
Aggie,
My wife and I are in the process of building our remote homestead in
South West Alaska. We are 180 miles removed from the nearest road
system. We
work on our project each year, and am not more than a few years from
basic completion. Ours is a land like the world was at the dawn of time.
We have
more land than we could share, more wildlife than most will likely ever
know. We have recently considered inviting others to join us in our
quest
for a fulfilling and sustainable life far off the grid. This is the
question: should we consider bringing other kindred spirits into our
endeavor or do you see disaster with such a community?
Warmest Regards,
Ryan
Dear Ryan,
My
housemates
and I live 20 miles from a small town of about 2000 people. As
much as we enjoy the peace and seclusion here, we have to admit that
we'd have just about as much of both commodities if we were only three
or four miles out of town while saving quite a bit on gasoline and
driving time. That, I suppose is why, when I first read your
letter, I wondered why you would want to travel so far if it weren't to
enjoy the solitude.
Having now
dwelt on the subject for a while, I find that I still have more
questions than answers. Being not completely antisocial, we can
understand a desire for companionship of one's choosing, still why did
you choose this location to begin with? Wouldn't you be giving up
many of the things that originally appealed to you? Wouldn't this
be akin to being married to a small group of people? Does that
appeal to you?
Wouldn't
it be enough to build your own personal dream, and do so in such a
fashion that, should you invite a few friends for a few weeks, they'd be
quite happy to come as often as you chose to invite them?
It seems
to me that, just as firewood warms you when you cut it and again when
you burn it, company warms your heart when they arrive, and again when
they leave.
By the
way, the photos you included were beautiful. The one of the "good
brown bear" taken from about 50 feet made me recall a recent article in
"Outside" magazine. (Well, I surmise it was recent, to tell the
truth, I read it in my dentist's office.) It was about a young couple
who had made a life of studying what we in the lower 48 call the Grizzly
Bear and how they went to Alaska to live their dream among these noble
animals.
They were
eaten.
Please be
careful.
Dear Aggie,
Do you know a resource that gives a table of vegetable production?
For example, a fifty foot row will produce so many quarts of beans, a
fifty foot row will produce so many quarts of corn, etc. etc.?
Thanks,
Judy
Albuquerque, NM
Dear Judy,
Well, yes
and no. Mostly no. That is, I was able to obtain estimates
of average yields of different fruits and vegetables by searching the
internet for such search phrases as [ tomato "average yield" ] or [
strawberry trials ] but the results I came up with tended to be specific
to certain states or areas and tended to require a bit more math than I
personally care to include into my typical gardening day as much of the
data came in pounds or tons per acre or per plant.
For
example, I learned that Texas tomato varieties could produce 7.6 to 11.2
pounds per plant under ideal circumstances, and that Autumn Britten
strawberries, cropped as a fall-bearer only, yielded 2.5 pounds of
marketable fruit per linear foot of row, while Heritage yielded over .75
pound of fruit per foot of row as a summer-bearer, and an additional 3.5
pounds per linear foot of row as a fall-bearer.
Then at
the end of the day, as with any gardening exercise, it will all depend
on the variables of nature and your own gardening skills and how many
raccoons inhabit the woods adjacent to your garden.
Plant
plenty and cross your fingers.
Dear
Aggie,
What can you do if you get chiggers in the house? And, on the woodpile?
Bob
Dear Bob,
As you
already know, you do indeed have a problem.
The
wood-pile is not such a concern, since dealing with these vile little
rascals out-of-doors is not so unusual or really so difficult: mow the
grass, get rid of brush and weeds nearby, and discourage small animals
that can be hosts. Chiggers actually prefer birds and reptiles to
humans.
Having
said that, and assuming you have eliminated from your home all the birds
and reptiles possible, you might consider these additional methods.
Temperatures below 42 degrees will kill the chigger species that bite
us. Since this is wintertime, you might find it easy to lower the
temperature in your home to significantly less than this for a few
hours. Don't forget to mind the plumbing and house-plants.
Mop all
the floors with Pine-sol and wash all your bed-clothes and linens in
same.
As a last
resort, the compounds Cyfluthrin and
Permethrin are said to be effective against chiggers, but it should be
remembered that chemicals frequently bring on unexpected side-effects.
Finally,
while there are numerous cases of indoor infestations of chiggers cited,
it is an uncommon problem. Before you expend too much effort in
combating the chiggers, you would do well to try to determine how they
came to be there in the first place.
Dear
Aggie,
We are a young couple and we want to start a self-sufficient homestead.
We have a lot of questions, don't have a lot of experience, and would
welcome any
advice.
Some of our questions are:
1) Should we take a risk and buy some land and try to make it work based
on advice from experts and books? YET, we do not have much money... and
don't know how much all the necessary bare minimums will cost...land,
building materials, etc. We desire to live very simply, with little
other than basic needs. How
realistic is it to be completely 'self-reliant'? What does one do about
money issues, such as taxes, paying off loans possibly, etc.?
2) We've looked into a lot of farm apprenticeships/internships...yet
these look
more large-scale than we would like. They often include a lot of
marketing, CSAs, and too much reliance on the outside world. Is there
any way we can live on an actual homestead of a willing host...and gain
some hands-on experience that way? Do you know of a list of such people?
Or a way to find such a place?
Looking forward to hearing any input/advice!
thanks,
Katie and David
Dear Katie
and David,
My first
advice is that you do NOT buy any land. If you aren't able to make
timely payments, you'll only lose your money and embitter yourselves in
the process. If you have sought advice from experts and books and
you still ask what to do about money, then this is a good indication
that you haven't sought or received enough advice.
What do
you do about money issues? You get yourself some money.
That
doesn't mean that you have to live like a typical American suburbanite,
but it is neither easy nor even desirable to live the life of the Third
World. What may be tolerable, even fun for a weekend will quickly
lose it's luster when your shoes wear out or your appendix bursts.
Certainly, the native Americans existed completely without manufactured
products and services, but you need to recall that Stone-age life
expectancy was about 25.
Even among
the native Americans, some tribes were noticeably wealthier than others
because they habited areas of richer natural resources i.e. better land.
While they had no formal system of currency, they still had to pay for
their land by murdering those who had it or those who wished to take it
from them. This is impractical today, so we have money, and while
we may claim to have "cut-throat" merchants, they don't actually cut
your throat.
For the
sake of this conversation, I'd prefer to think that what you'd wish to
do is develop a self-sustaining lifestyle that keeps the bills paid and
buys you a few modest non-essentials.
Taxes
shouldn't be too great a concern if you locate in the right rural area,
but buying land and securing reasonable shelter will require you to have
at a least several thousand dollars. One of your first steps
should be to find out how much you will need... then double that.
Don't forget that you'll have medical expenses, usually without warning,
and that you'll constantly need to replace things that wear out.
If you're
planning on having children, don't expect them to share your enthusiasm.
"Farm
apprenticeships/internships" might be of some value to your education,
but it's most likely that the ones you've seen take a serious attitude
toward their own existence and that, in practical terms, means that they
have to interact with the rest of the world to provide the goods and
services that they cannot provide for themselves.
Here's my
advice: the first thing you need is not land. The first thing you
need is a way to create income. You can start this out at home in
your spare time.
Seriously.
Find a way
to successfully make some money, then do that over and over (and over
and over). This is not easy, and it requires hard work and
imagination and occasionally a little courage, but if you do it with a
cheerful attitude, it can also be lots of fun.
Do not
confuse this with getting a job. You may already have jobs, which
would explain your rejection of the material world. Having a job
is a trap that will keep you always indebted to the national economy and
the Internal Revenue Service.
If it is
too late for you to be born into a wealthy family, the only way to ever
be truly self-reliant is to learn how to make your own money. When
you do, all purchases create their own rationale. Find a way to
make money that requires land, and you have a way to purchase land.
Dear
Aggie,
Bless
you for you web pages! I am a widow living in Arkansas--USA. I live on a
farm and am VERY independent and was happy to see your site. I wish I
could be living where you are where you do not have people driving by or
hunters that make you worry about the livestock's safety. I have caught
deer hunters drawing down on my nubian goats; guess they can't tell the
difference between goats and deer. You are a very lucky person. I have
looked for another lady to correspond with-someone who is independent
and living on a ranch or farm. If you would like to correspond with me I
would appreciate it. If not, would you know of someone that would. Once
again, thank you for all the information you helped me with on your
website.
Mary
Kline
mhkline@yellville.net
Dear Mary,
Your kind
words are greatly appreciated, but I must tell you that the problems you
experience with hunters are shared by all of us who choose to live a
quiet, rural life. There is little point, we feel, in trying to
speak reasonably with people who ENJOY killing things, so the best
approach is to 1. post your property (keep it simple, I find that "KEEP
OUT" is an easy concept to comprehend, and thus less subject to
interpretation). 2. Know your local laws and don't hesitate to
contact the authorities if you see them violated. (License plate
numbers are always handy.) 3. Put the stock in the safest, most secure
place, away from the road. Most people have a few neighbors
who find amusement in bloodletting, but they do so on their own land.
For the most part, this problem is a matter of city-dwellers who clog
our country roads during deer season in the hope of slaughtering or
maiming some helpless beast in the name of sportsmanship so as to
reassure themselves of their masculinity. There's not much you'll be
able to do to stop them. Like ticks and hail-storms, they're just
something you have to learn to deal with.
While I
cannot promise to be a better correspondent to you than I am to my own
dear Mother, I'm certain that many of our readers will find much in
common to discuss with you. Please let me know if you get lots of
mail from them.
Dear Aggie,
We just recently found your site and have been studying it intensely.
When we came across your advice column we were amazed on the well
thought out and meaningful advice you gave to those with questions.
Amazed, that is, until we read the response you gave to the widow Mary
Kline. At that point we were sickened. In case you have forgotten about
it, it has been copied and pasted below exactly like it was (and still
is) on the website.
Apparently you feel that hunters cannot speak reasonably or respect the
rights of others and their property and/or livestock. You remark of
"there is no use in speaking reasonably to people who ENJOY killing
things" is an indication of your ignorance and proves how little you
know about hunting, it's history in our great nation, and it's positive
effects on the environment and the country lifestyle.
I am not saying nor would I dare to say that there are not some bad
apples out there, but for you to assume that all hunters (as you have so
obviously done) behave irresponsibly and without regards to the rights
and safety of others property and livestock is ludicrous.
Why don't you do some home work Aggie? Why don't you discover for
yourself the fact that each and every year ethical hunters report more
game law violations than property owners will ever report. Why don't
you do some more homework and discover that every state in this great
country has in place hunter education programs and that those who
graduate from these programs are educated in the proper use of firearms,
identification of game animals (so as not to shoot farm livestock),
ethics in hunting, landowner/hunter respect, and many other topics.
You could go a step further even and discover that hunters are the most
effective method of controlling game populations. The very same game
animals that country dwellers complain about to state Wildlife Agencies
for eating their livestock feed, destroying their crops, etc. Perhaps
you might even discover that hunting eliminates needless pain and
suffering from starvation during the winter months by thinning the game
herds and allowing more food and space for those that remain. And it
allows the remaining animals a superbly crafted opportunity to thrive.
Maybe you should also consider that hunters are 100% supportive of
wildlife activities. Meaning, your tax dollars do not go to our
activities. The license fees and excise taxes paid by hunters, along
with fundraising activities conducted by great organizations such as The
Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Ducks Unlimited, National Wild Turkey
Federation, International Bowhunters Education Foundation, & National
Muzzle Loading Rifle Association, just to name a few of many, are
what supports the Wildlife Agencies and the restoration programs that
they oversee. These dollars that hunters provide also goes towards
building trusting and lasting relationships between hunters and
landowners by way of landowner/hunter respect programs. In my home
state, these funds (paid by hunters & fisherman) also pay the salaries
of our Wildlife Officials.
A person who gives advice about country living should be well versed in
the fact that many country dwellers are themselves hunters. And like
us, they hunt for meat to feed to their families. They hunt ethically
and with respect for the game they pursue. They make every effort to
harvest the animal quickly and humanely. They don't go out to
"slaughter or maim some helpless beast so as to reassure themselves of
their masculinity" as you stated. Additionally, you gave a direct slap
in the face to all of the women in our country who have discovered that
hunting is a rewarding and necessary activity. A woman is not "assured
of her masculinity" by hunting or harvesting game animals. I would
think you would have thought about that before you made such a sexist
statement.
Hunting is a lawful activity that has been in practice since long before
you or I were even thought of. For you to compare hunters (and our
forefathers) to '"Ticks and Hail-Storms that we will have to learn to
put up with" is nothing more than a directed insult from a person who
doesn't know the facts.
I do however agree with you on one point. And that one and only point
is "Immediately report those who violate game laws or trespass upon
another persons property without permission. Report those who
mistakenly or intentionally kills or harms another persons livestock".
By doing so, we can all help to eliminate those few bad apples who make
people like you, Aggie, think that all hunters are "Ticks and
Hail-Storms".
But, of course, a reasonably speaking person such as yourself already
knows this.........?
Sincerely,
Jim
Dear Jim:
I have reprinted your
letter in its entirety (except the copy of the letter from Mary Kline
and my response, which the reader can find by scrolling down or by
clicking here) in the hope of conveying your
message and its concerns and opinions to my readers. You’ll also note
that I omitted giving your last name.
I have no doubt that
many of the things you say are true, although you offer scant evidence
and abundant bluster. It almost makes one wonder how the White-tailed
Deer managed to avoid extinction for the eons prior to the invention of
high-powered rifles
Regarding the two
comments you quoted, which in their essence address why someone wants to
kill animals for sport in the first place, your only explanation is that
“they hunt for meat to feed to their families”.
Isn’t this being a
little disingenuous, James? I think many people would find it hard to
believe that anyone would spend the time, effort and money one
associates with hunting just to put on their table a meat that any
knowledgeable cook will tell is plainly inferior to that raised for
slaughter. Do you know anyone who would spend a few hundred, maybe a
few thousand dollars for permits, property rights, weapons, ammunition,
magazine subscriptions, four-wheel-drive vehicles, camouflage clothing,
blinds, traps, lairs, scents, baits, calls and untold other equipment,
then sit out in the woods in sub-freezing temperatures at five in the
morning just to get a free side of beef?... once a year?... with the
skin still on it?
Wouldn’t it be a
little more honest to say that hunters enjoy blowing the brains out of
other living things? Isn’t that why they like to call hunting a “sport”
even though the skills involved are essentially the same as those
required to be a sniper? (Why isn’t sniping referred to as
“sportsmanship”?) Didn’t “our forefathers” hunt most of the game
animals in this country to near extinction before the taxpayer-funded
governmental agencies were forced to begin efforts to restock wildlife
populations and impose seasons and quotas?
I have little doubt
that most hunters are otherwise peaceful, law-abiding citizens, but I
can tell you that around my home in a year’s time I see plentiful
evidence of wasted carcasses, spot-lighting, property damage, trespass,
littering and commission of general nuisance; far more than one can
attribute to “a few bad apples”. There are a lot of bad apples,
Jim and a many of us are getting a little tired of hearing the situation
minimized.
So was I saying that
all hunters are bad? No, just that all hunters are hunters, and that
the lady in question would do well to plan for, and expect, the worst.
You can’t loose hundreds of thousands of well-armed, occasionally
intoxicated people into the woods every year, frequently on someone
else’s property, without expecting a few mishaps, some accidental, some
intentional.
Hi,
My name is Allan. I believe that I have everything I need to start a new
home except the faith of my partner Diana. I know how to build, drill a
well, landscape, raise animals etc... How can I set her mind at ease and
make her a team player.
I'm not asking for much; five acres with horses and dogs.
Dear Allan,
Yours is an unfortunate
situation in that our world is teeming with young men with ideas, only a
scant few of which have the requisite discipline to bring their dreams
to fruition.
Doubtless this is a
condition with which your lady-love is only too familiar. It is
important that you try to imagine yourself in her place, as most young,
single women have been treated to numerous gentlemen's pipe dreams,
illusions and fantasies even before they have completed their formal
education and often to ill effect.
You do not state
exactly what it is that would constitute being a "team player". It
may be that all you are asking of Dianna is her moral support and
companionship. I certainly hope this is the case, and not that you
are hoping for financial assistance as proof of her devotion. You
might also be asking her to move away from employment or family, which
of course could give a girl pause. Conceivably you may be wishing
to finance your ambitions with jointly-held cash. In any event, my
advice is the same.
Since you have
everything you need and it would appear that you have the requisite
skills, do go ahead without her. Nothing is more romantic than
being separated from your partner, and as the old bromide goes, "absence
makes the heart grow fonder". Prove to her that you can do what
you promise. She will see you in a different light thereafter.
Dear Aggie:
I
got your website from a book at the pet store called Raising Pigs.
They suggested that I write to your website to get some answers. I
received a piglet that is about (now) 10 days maybe 2 weeks old. I am
giving him pig milk 6 oz 4 times a day but at the pet store they also
gave me pig pellets but nobody can tell me nor the package when to start
feeding them. HELP!
Robyn
Dear Robyn,
I called upon our
resident swine expert, C.J. Mouser, and asked her about your problem.
She says that assuming that the pig feed you gave the piglet was
starter, or weaner feed, he should start nibbling at it at around two
weeks and it should be fed freely. For best results the feed
should be a starter formula of at least 18-21 percent protein.
Address all questions to
Aggie@Homestead.org
