Make your own Nectarines and Peaches

Many people see the nectarines and the peaches as the same fruit, no wonder, since they are so much alike.
There's a difference though. Take a look at the picture.

The Nectarine is to the left.
It has a shiny surface, and feels smooth on the surface.

On the right we have the peach. It feels more like welvet in the hands, like it has itsy bitsy tiny hair.

We want to enjoy eating them, and then planting the stone inside.

The most easy way to get to the core, is to put your knife through the fruit until you feel the stone, then cut around the stone by rolling your knife around the fruit.

Twist the 2 parts, one will easily let go of the meat, and we got 2 parts, one with the stone attached.

As you see at the picture, the first try was unsuccessful, I've actually never seen a bad stone before. 

But the second one is great. We remove the stone and put it in a glass of water over night (not necessary, but I have other plants right now)

Mango- make your own plant

Since we are currently out of chickens, totally, I'll focus on my plants.

Let's have a look at the mango seed I try to grow.
This is not a success either.
As you see, the huge seed coloured the wrapping brown. This has happened before, however this time, I don't think I'll succeed. Cause when unwrapping it, it showed that the seed now has visible spots from being attacked by disease.

I'll let it dry a bit, but don't expect much else, than I need to try again.

Everything about selfsufficiency is trying, sometimes you succeed, sometimes not.

No reason to give up. Nothing is really wasted in a household that's living by selfsufficient possibilities.

Unwanted guests III

I'm so sad.
Despite all our effort, we lost all our chickens today. In The middle if the day, that's an odd time for a fox!
SO, after a whole afternoon searching, we found a loose dog with one of our hens in the mouth.
We confronted the owner, and we made a deal. We won't call the police if it never ever happens again, and he will contact his insurance.
We will get reimbursed, but it's not the same tame chickens, and I'm sad to loose them in such a violent way.
What to do with the dead hens(?)
Well, selfsufficiency is living with nature, so when stuff like this happens, we lay them in the field or in a forest. There's no reason for not giving them to the wild animals, at least they get a meal out of the tradegy.

Unwantes guests II

As a result of our unwanted guest in the chicken poop, I had to figure out, what to do.

In the mean time I've made a sort of Storm P solution - that looks totally foolish. 

However it works🌞 Cause look at that... We at least got 1 egg today. 

I've tried different more permanent solutions, however none of them really worked for me.

I noticed, that the chickens like to sit under the garden chair, and that made me think of yet another thing to try. So I'll build that tomorrow.

I cross my fingers and hope that will help.🌞 

Unwanted guests in the hen house

I didnt understand why our hens stopped laying eggs, they are not too old to go on retirement!
I've looked everywhere for a reason, and today I found it.
Something is stealing eggs and eating them.
So for tomorrow's to-do-list, I have to add security for the chicken poop.

August in the hen house

We asembled the first chicken house, that didn't make it through the storm. However it was never totally good, so we decided to get another. A henhouse is a "must have".
There's more pleasures with having hens, than just fresh eggs.
Besides eggs and fresh hens you get a huge amount of pleasure just to look at their colers and watch their every move.
It's exciting when a hen lays on her eggs. "When will they hatch, how many etc."
And when the chickens come, your heart just melts.
But it doesn't end there. Look at the picture... It's time to clean the whole ground now.
A lot of straw is covering the ground right outside the house, where the hens drag it.
They walk on it, nipple on it, digs a lot,  and when it's time to clean the outside area, you have the perfect fertiliser for your plants.
So I can only recommend that you get some chickens for your place.
In some areas, hens is not allowed at all, in some areas they won't allow a rooster because of the noise. I recommend you check the local regulations.
f you can't have a rooster, the hens will give you eggs anyway, but of course they won't be able to give you chickens.

Make your own Avocado plant

This is a new method for me, but let's try it.

Remove the stone from the Avocado. Peel, yes that what I said, very gently peel the brown thin hard layer of the seed with a sharp vegetable knife or alike.

Put 3 toothpicks into the stone, not more than 2 mm, that way you can place it over a glass.

Fill up the glass with water until the stone just touches the surface of the water.
And now we wait...

Plant your own Mango Seed

Fold some kitchen towel and wrapt it around the huge seed.
Put the seed package under water, and let the paper become wet. Press gently the water out if the paper, so it's very moist but not running with water.
Place the package in a plastic bag, blow air into the bag and close it tight.
Let it sit there in room temperature for 3-4 days.
I haven't tried this method before, so I'll let you know of the results.

Your own Mango Seed

When you have eaten your mango, don't throw away the stone. It contains a seed, which we try to grow into our own Mango Tree.
Wash and scrub the stone, so it's not so slippery and more easy to handle.
The stone surrounds the seed and is a bit hard. We want to remove it from the hard shell.
I used a metal spatula from the kitchen, You can use anything flat to twist it open. Just don't use a knife to be sure you don't cut yourself or the seed inside.
Be careful when you remove the shell, we want the seed to be intact.