Day 5
Holy cow they have grown quite a bit in the last day!
Fodder day 2,3,4
Here are photos of the fodder growth, I split the 10oz of seeds into 2 1 gallon ice cream tubs. Hopefully that will allow just the right amount of room for them to grow. The seeds were layered roughly 1/2 inch deep in the tub. I had drilled 1/8 inch holes all over the bottom of the tubs for drainage.
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Half way through, hopefully they grow more the next 4 days than they have the last 4 days. The ulitmate goal is for the fodder to weigh 8 times as much as the seed, thus turning a 50 lb bag of grain into 400 lbs of feed. Usually 50 lbs feeds my flock for 3 to 4 weeks as they mostly eat grain. However with all the weeds we have been feeding them and they have been grazing on they are slowing down a bit on the grain. But with a good fodder system 50 lbs will feed for 6 months or more, cutting way down on the cost of feeding these eating machines.
Fodder – day 1
10 oz barley and 1 qt water. Soaking for 8 hours. I bought the raw, unprocessed (and only partially de-hulled) barley at the feed store for 18 bucks. Now to watch what happens.
Barley in water
Plant starts
The fill of the plant starts after thinning to one plant per cell. It seems to be doing quite well. I may have to get some bigger pots, especially for the tomatoes before long, or else they may have to go into the ground around mid January, hopefully I can hold off til the middle of February just to be safe from frost.
Plant starts
2nd Leaves
The second leaves are coming onto the tomatoes, kale, and flax quite nicely!
