Hello from California US

Hello Mark and everyone. I've been watching the SelfSufficientMe videos for a couple of years. My favorite and the one that caught my attention was one of Mark chasing the ducks. Being normal, not staged, the ducks winning, it was refreshing, funny and just downright normal! I usually watch videos after I've gone to bed so I don't comment much because I forget about it the next day when I'm up at the computer....its hard to comment using Apple TV. I live outside of Sacramento, California. Its hot and dry in the summer and, usually, cold and wet in our winter. But, we just had the first good winter rainfall, breaking the drought of four years. I have a back injury that now makes it difficult to walk so my gardening is just a few things that have not died. The videos encourage me, help me to dream of gardening days ahead, and help me to keep things in perspective when I'm a bit down. My granny raised me, had that pioneering spirit and we were self sufficient when I was growing up. I live in a subdivision that "allows" us to have up to four chickens, no roos. I really enjoy them. Well, glad to be here in the group!

Hi Marisa, welcome to the site! Yeah it's good when you can get some motivation from other peoples projects. It would be good to hear more about your area, chook photos even?

Good to hear you have some rain there now. We've had some good consistent rain here so everything is nice and green.

Hi Marisa and thanks for joining us here on SSC!

California hey, wow I think your climate is quite similar to ours in SE Australia - I'm not overly sure though?

I can commiserate with you and your bad back because mine has been sore as hell over the past 3 days - I've overdone work around the place and my back is paying for it.

Be sure to share some of your experiences with us here when you get the chance.

Mark said:

Hi Marisa and thanks for joining us here on SSC!

California hey, wow I think your climate is quite similar to ours in SE Australia - I'm not overly sure though?

I can commiserate with you and your bad back because mine has been sore as hell over the past 3 days - I've overdone work around the place and my back is paying for it.

Be sure to share some of your experiences with us here when you get the chance.

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Mark, I do think some of our weather is similar, thats why I started searching YouTube Australian area videos and found you. You and I chatted last year about your chick feeder... but I'm sure I was one of the many comments you responded to. My back doesn't hurt much any longer, but the nerve damage sends incorrect messages to my legs and sometimes I can't walk...I use a walker almost 100% right now but I'm improving so hope to be back to gardening. So, take care of your back!

stevo said:

Hi Marisa, welcome to the site! Yeah it's good when you can get some motivation from other peoples projects. It would be good to hear more about your area, chook photos even?

Good to hear you have some rain there now. We've had some good consistent rain here so everything is nice and green.

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Thanks Stevo I'm hoping to post some pics after I write this... If I get my dog pics up...he is Queenland Blue Healer and Shepard mix. He was suppose to be about 40 lbs but last I checked he was 76lbs....lol

Opps...guess I posted twice. thats my back yard, last year. Me, with the little chook, my daughter with the same chook a year later, Moses the day I brought him home and today. Well, I got the photos edited so just one of each.

stevo said:

Hi Marisa, welcome to the site! Yeah it's good when you can get some motivation from other peoples projects. It would be good to hear more about your area, chook photos even?

Good to hear you have some rain there now. We've had some good consistent rain here so everything is nice and green.

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I live 20 miles north east of Sacramento, California. It is rolling foothills, about 15 miles from the Sierra Nevada Mountains. In the winter and spring the hills are a beautiful green. In the summer they are dry and brown. The area is called Orangevale and used to be orange farms. There are still great producing citrus fruit orchards but they are not very large. We are mid way between San Francisco at the Pacific Ocean and Reno, Nevada at the top of the mountain range. During the summer months, almost nightly we get an ocean breeze. There is a small mountain range near the ocean but the breeze is higher than the mountains there. I have seen snow two times in the past 40 years at my home but it does stick. We have a few days during the winter, that freezes. Summers can get up to 117 degrees F but generally between 105 and 110 degrees F. We had about three days of high humidity this year, very unusually for California, Florida, Louisianan, Georgia and Alabama are humid. Winter snow in the mountains usually begins end of Oct to end of Nov and last until the following April. We used to have our worst rains in Feb and March with lots of winds that can be around 80 knotts. We start planting around June for our hot season, with just a few winter veg starting around Sept. Just west starts the Sacramento valley area, flat lands that go almost to Los Angeles, in the southern part of the state. There are lots of rice fields and the further south more vegtable farms fill the valley. I think we grow more strawberries than any other state. We have lots of trees, most fruit trees grow well here. I have one loquat and one fuju persimmons trees, thornless blackbarries and two varieties of figs that aren't sure if they want to be in my yard or not.... I had three chooks but one was a rooster and I had to give him away. Because of the housing laws, I have have four girls...home to get a few more soon. I just lost one of my girls, the one in the picture that my daughter was holding, so my other one stopped laying. Looking for more layers now.

Looks like a great garden. I like the keg/barrels, the curvy path and the flowers, I'm trying to build up my gardens with flowers for the bees at the moment.

One of my neighbours has a new Blue Heeler pup, it's a bit out of control wrecking everything they have. It needs a fair bit of exercise to keep it busy.

I just googled Orangevale and looked at the Earth View. It does look very dry! How's Folsom lake water level going?

I find the USA fascinating and I wish we had more American members here on our forum.

I've been to the US just a few times once as a child and another for work in the 90s but we'd like to go over for an extended period and tour as much of the country as possible - one day we will

Marisa said:

The area is called Orangevale and used to be orange farms. There are still great producing citrus fruit orchards but they are not very large

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I love citrus and it's by far the most dominant fruit tree in our orchard. Citrus trees are generally hardy easy to look after early to mature and are reliable fruit producers, making them an ideal backyard tree.

I see you have raised containers in your garden - that's an excellent way to garden especially when you have a disability (like us) anything to make gardening easier means more encouragement to food gardening and that's healthy.

Love the pics!

Yes, I too love raised container gardening. I really like the type of round containers you have. I purchased four 4 x 2 x 2 containers but have not been able to do anything with them yet...but I will.

I have not purchased any produce from the stores for a few years. Only local farmers stands so I eat whatever is seasonal. Yes it does make a big difference. I can attest to home grown or local foods being a healthy choice. My pain and sugars level (I'm diabetic) have all improved, as has my sleeping and daily well being. I eat very little processed/packaged food. I do spend more for some things but I learned the first time I purchased expensive whole grained type bread, I was full with less food so it is cost effective to eat better quality.

I enjoy mixing both food and flowers together and can get away with red kale, parsley and chilves in the front flower bed without anyone complaining or picking it. The US is big on laws and if they can outlaw food in the front yard, they will....got to support the government!

Glad you enjoyed the pics,

Marisa

stevo said:

Looks like a great garden. I like the keg/barrels, the curvy path and the flowers, I'm trying to build up my gardens with flowers for the bees at the moment.

One of my neighbours has a new Blue Heeler pup, it's a bit out of control wrecking everything they have. It needs a fair bit of exercise to keep it busy.

I just googled Orangevale and looked at the Earth View. It does look very dry! How's Folsom lake water level going?

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Folsom Lake has not been on the news lately and we are not on water restrictions so it must be holding alright.

Moses was a hand full the first year, he is two now. He is a good sleeper and enjoys lots of napping. My chook can come in and out of her area and Moses loves to herd her back in....its his job. When I first got him he herded me in circles constantly. We went to dog school and that's the first thing we stopped. I took him to the local dog park to run around with other dogs and although he could keep up with the med and small dogs he would wear himself out, stop often for a drink and rest. He is always the back of the park. I took him every day for months....after about 45 min he would come lay at my feet and wait for me to bring him home. I don't think he would make it as a true herd dog. But then he is so big, maybe that makes the difference.

The breed part that I don't like is he feels the need to put his mouth on everyone and everything. He is finally letting people pet him without his mouth trying to help .... he doesn't bit down, its just aggravating. He thinks everyone is his friend and no one is a stranger.

I found early on, he likes to have jobs, or challenges. And large toys. He loves to pick up and carry three items in his mouth and goes around crying when he can't find three of his things that are small enough to carry at once in his mouth... He has never chewed anything he shouldn't, other than sticks or branches outside, doesn't bother plants etc.

I added two more pic, the first day I got him and now, he takes up lots of the couch.

Mark said:

I find the USA fascinating and I wish we had more American members here on our forum.

I've been to the US just a few times once as a child and another for work in the 90s but we'd like to go over for an extended period and tour as much of the country as possible - one day we will


I love citrus and it's by far the most dominant fruit tree in our orchard. Citrus trees are generally hardy easy to look after early to mature and are reliable fruit producers, making them an ideal backyard tree.

I see you have raised containers in your garden - that's an excellent way to garden especially when you have a disability (like us) anything to make gardening easier means more encouragement to food gardening and that's healthy.

Love the pics!

Click to expand...

Gee, I passed your first sentence.... the US is so large, you could spend two weeks in almost every state and not see it all! Lots of people rent large recreation vehicles and take about three months going from the northern part and then the southern part, east to west and back to again. The Atlantic ocean, from New your to Florida is so very different from the Pacific ocean from the top of Washington state to Mexico.

East to West, California can be driven anywhere from 3 to six hours, depends of the land and the mountain roads. North to south is about 13 hours without stopping.

Would love to meet the family!

Marisa

Other benefits of container and raised beds that I enjoy. Since I'm not walking on the soil, is stays light and softer, weeds pull out easier as does the veg. Smaller critters can still get up there but dogs seem to stay out. And if you invest is good products they may last your lifetime. Less work, more produce!

Hi Marisa, I missed your initial posts.
When I was in my late teens & very early 20's I bred red & blue cattle dogs & some went to Texas, USA as half trained 12-15wk old pups. I'm not a huge dog lover but as a jillaroo I always insisted on having the best working dogs which led me into breeding when I purchased some purebreds. Then was offered the chance to breed & show dogs in conjunction with another breeder. I went out of dogs when I got my first excellent competition quaterhorse!
I have horsey forum friends in your greater region.

I had a bad accident in the army 25yrs ago which damaged my back significantly & for 2yrs I couldn't walk. The army stuck me in a wheel chair & kicked me out of the hospital because as an older female with a stuffed back I was of no value to them. They eventually paid me off & washed their hands of me, then the govt took most of that money off me & washed their hands of me. It's the way things were done at that time. But I fought back!

I ditched the wheel chair the first day I was home. Having beautiful kikuyu grass 'lawns' everywhere caused by the way the horses grazed it, I could scoot down the paddock to feed my horses & water my garden on my bum (fanny in your lingo! ) Eventually I could stand & take a few steps so I put rails everywhere & other stuff to grab hold of, then eventually I redeveloped enough core strength to climb the loading ramp to sit on one of my horses. That led to riding a few steps which led to more & more. I had nerve damage too as well as a total of 9 damaged or ruptured discs & SI damage.
Most days the pain was very bad, but other days it was much better. I pushed myself on the good days & took pain meds on the bad days. Soon there were more good days than bad ones. After 5yrs I was back to doing most of what I did previously except carrying heavy stuff. I did work much slower & with more consideration for biomechanics. During that time I finished building my house. If I overdid it, my right foot would drag which would cause me to trip up. Once, at a rock concert, I was mistaken for a drunken person & chucked out!
These days I still have my own farm & do all the manual work myself but it does take a lot longer & I am not so strong anymore. If it's not vitally important it probably wont get done! I regularly take normal headache type pain meds to get me started on the work for the day. In the beginning I taught myself to sleep though the pain so I could avoid taking too many meds. Even now when I am in pain I get very tired so I have a little nap to reboot.

So give your back time. Push yourself when you feel you can, try to get by on less meds as it is beneficial in the long run. Get someone to help you when you can. Continue getting your garden beds up at waist height & maybe try the no dig method. Most of all, don't sit down & do nothing too much unless you are completely worn out. Its that old adage:- if you don't use it, you'll loose it. Of course there will be days when you just have to rest all day. That's fine if you have been doing a bit too much already.

With nerve damage, the nerves will find a new path if you attempt to do the thing that is being prevented by the damage. Do you remember um 'what's his name'...superman.....? My injury occurred not too long after his horse fall. He & his therapy aids discovered that if he attempted to move arms or legs, eventually there was movement. Science now knows that the body will find a new path for the nerve signal. It depends on how much damage there is. In his case the neck damage was too great but there was early signs of improvement before his lungs began to fail. What I worked on was that I was not that badly injured. I could still move my legs, my back just couldn't take any weight & there was no core strength anymore. So I moved how I could, on my bum using arms & legs to drag/push myself along even though at times the pain was intense & the neighbours used to sit on their verandah & treat my outings down the paddock as free entertainment. (I put them, the army & the govt in the same basket!) Time started the healing process of the ruptured discs which didn't hurt so much when they took weight. So I could stand & attempt to take a step. And so on it went. I used 2 walking sticks to get around for ages & still use them on rare occasions.

One thing I learnt was that physiotherapists truly know didley squat about back injuries. If I knew then what I know now I would have been able to avoid most of the terrible debilitating pain I had from time to time. I made it my mission to learn about my body & biomechanics, did Feldenkrais, muscle therapy & other alternative treatments. Now when my SI goes out of place from the ligaments being unbalanced & my hips want to fall apart, I know that a simple exercise will fix it within minutes, although the pain may last a day or so if I didn't get onto it the moment I first noticed it. But it nolonger prevents me from doing my work. I even still do my own 3 horse's feet, dig post holes in horrible stony ground, cut trees down, drag them around, build fences, repair my house, etc.

I liked your quip re govt laws & growing food in the front yard. Do you think that will get better or worse after this next election!

Wow, what a story of come back. So encouraging to know a real person who has achieved such progress without medical help! Thank you so very much for sharing.

I spent five years on strong pain, nerve, muscle and anti inflammatory meds. When I realized I still had pain I quite them all but I also had an ulterior motive. Here we can't legally carry concealed firearms while drinking or on certain meds and I'm licensed and do carry so I've been off meds over a year now. Its one of the best decisions I've ever made. So much happier and clearer mind. Better food and health decisions that I just didn't care about when I was taking pills.

I totally agree with your assessment of physiotherapists. I think their area is with minor things...they have helped me with other injuries that were healed in about six weeks.

I am sure hopping this coming election ends with Trump as our president. He is not easy to like and opens his mouth too quick but he is not trigger happy and is more honest than the other side. Plus, he is wanting to trim this excess government, stand firm against ISIS, close our borders, etc. Clinton's is big on more government control and lets pay ISIS to be our friends....

Government is trying to outlaw living off the grid, having chickens in most places and growing zero produce in housing sections. After all, how else can they suck the life out of us beside outlaw sustainability! I am so thankful my grandparents raised me and my granny shared all her growing up stories of living off the land. She gave me the love of gardening, playing in the dirt, processing home grown meat, etc. I really like Marks statement of be self sufficient in something... it is so powerful to realize we can live better for less.

I got my first paid haircut when I turned 50 and decided I didn't need to pay for something I could still do after a few months. Everyone I know is shocked to find I cut my own hair. I just recently realized that too is an area of self sufficiency. Here is where having the right tool can make a difference. I have hair cutting shears and straight razors....

Marisa I just had a better look at the photo of Moses sleeping on the lounge.
I see he has a stumpy tail! So he's not a Blue, he's a red!
That would mean he has Smithfield which is one of the red cattle dog basic breeds.
It's the main colour gene (& the tail gene still comes out a lot too). Many people would like to believe the dingo provided the main colour gene.
There is dingo in the red cattle dog now scientifically proven, but not to the same proportion as the Smithfield.
I think the Smithie came originally from somewhere in Britain.
So Moses is red/blue cattle dog crossed with shepard. I'm assuming from his big jowls that it's German/Alsatian shepard rather than Collie shepard.
Yes he certainly would need lots of 'work' & puzzle solving entertainment. The mouthiness is from the German/Alsatian shepard side & is his way of showing ownership. Whoever he grabs with his mouth becomes part of his pack or he is trying to increase the size of his pack. Check out how wolves carry on. Because afterall that how dogs see us..as part of their pack. That's why when we go out & leave them at home they can go off the deep end, because we deserted the pack & left their sight. We should teach them their job is to guard the home while we are away but most humans don't grasp that fundamental mind shift nor do they have the savvy or interest to teach it to their dog.
If you or an instructor you are comfortable with does Clicker Training, you might be able to modify the mouth grab into a nose touch of the hand if mouthiness unsettles you or your friends. He would certainly be intelligent enough to grasp the change even at this stage of his life.
I had a QH stallion who was mouthy as an ownership thing & I modified it into a nose touch of the arm. It was interesting to see who he had confidence in when people visited. You can't fool a horse! Pretty much like you can't fool the dog either!
One of my horses now does it too. But he is trying to lead me away to have all to himself for purposes of dedicated scratching. He doesn't understand that sometimes my body is on the other side of the horse he is leaning across to get hold of my wrist so in effect he is trying to drag me right over the other horse. Understandably that is not something I can achieve so I have to prize his mouth off my wrist! It's at those moments I get a full appreciation of what purpose their canine teeth serve!

Funny about the tail....his sister had the longer tail and no red...just the blue, gray, black and white. I thought his mouth was because he was suppose to turn a herd by using his mouth. He doean't clamp down in any way...reminds me of a baby putting everything in his mouth.

He does not like the water squirt bottle and pretty much settles down, barking at dogs going down the street, or putting his mouth on people... but I am perfectly happy to use a clicker, or whatever doesn't harm him but does the trick.

Moses especially does it with my one son, who tries to be the alpha in any group. No so much with my other son and not with my daughter or other women.... My daughter turns her back on him until he calms down. He really get riled up with the guys although my daughter brought over a guy once and Moses, with the help of the water bottle, stayed completely away from him.... It was probably the guy, not the bottle. Moses loves the mail men and all delivery people....he cries like a baby until they reach out a give him a pet on the head.

When Moses is trying to get the chickens in, he will put his mouth on their neck but again, does not clamp down...he lets them go as long as they head for their area....if not he corners them again but only for about 5 seconds...then lets them go again. I've stayed out of view and watched him....

Thanks for the info on the red one. Didn't know that. Oh, he is very interested when I have hard boiled eggs...not so much if I have a piece of meat or anything else. Today he actually sole a hard boiled egg off the seat of my walker...I had it in a bowl and turned my back. First time hes does that. He ate it all, including the shell and I found nothing. First time he has had people food. Hope its the last.

Marisa the click is for reward not a deterrent. Check out Clicker Training on youtube & google.
There's plenty for dogs & horses & other animals too.
I use the principles to train horses at liberty. Sometimes I use an actual clicker, other times just the principle, depends on the horse's psychology.
But dogs really take to clicker training.

Can someone link me the video with the duck chase? I don't even know where to start to find it!