DAPNET Forums Archive › Forums › Sustainable Living and Land use › Sustainable Farming › "Tricks of the trade"
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Robert MoonShadow.
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- March 27, 2009 at 3:46 am #40356
Robert MoonShadow
ParticipantWhen Jen responded to a posting I made elsewhere, referring to an idea I use to reuse the dreaded leftover haybale twine, it got me thinking (so this is her fault! :p) –> how about a thread on little gardening & farming tricks that make things easier, more efficient or just plain fun? And since this is listed as the “sustainable farming” post, emphasis on that aspect? I’ll start with the one Jen liked:
The leftover haybale twine – First of all, here’s an easy way to save it & dispense it: I take a large coffee can,remove the remaining end, rig up an old coathanger to hang it from… just like the old-fashioned tp hanger.
I use the twine for weaving net/trellis for peas, beans, etc. Drive one t-post (or rebar) at each end of the row. Hang twine on one end, about 3″ from dirt, and as you unspool it, measure off about a forearm’s length, tie a small loop in it. Get to the end, really tighten it up. Do it again about 4′ -6′ high. Then just weave it from loop to loop, only slightly snugging it up between loops. It’ll look “N”-shaped pattern. If you pull this part too tight, it’ll arch the bottom horizontal twine, & sag the top one… and I guarantee it’ll work just fine if left a bit loose. You can always snug it back up once under weight. When you go to dismantle it, pull the vines off first, before cutting the twine free – it’ll make it easier to seperate most of the vines for feeding to the pigs, goats or the compost pile. Trellis netting is $20 for 60′, hemp twine is $10 per roll, but as I’m sure you know – it’s nowhere near as strong as baling twine! I use this on everything = peas, beans, cukes, tomatoes, melons, etc. I sometimes actually end up wishing I had more, halfway through the season.
So, what’s YOUR ideas?March 27, 2009 at 12:59 pm #51219jen judkins
ParticipantI, for one, hate throwing away baling twine and am always looking for things to do with it…even if I just make a ball for the barn cats or the dogs to play with. Although one of those little balls wreaks havoc with the mower if you run one over:p
I’ve been meaning to start a few projects with my twine…probably should have done over the winter, as there won’t be time now. I saw a woman making hay nets with twine at the grazing conference…looked easy to do. I’ve always wanted to make a fly net for Peanut, but need to see one up close to get the feel for how they are made.
BTW, Robert, email me your addess and I will send you all the twine you can use. I go through about 1200 bales of hay each winter….you do the math:D.
March 31, 2009 at 2:41 pm #51216Vicki
ParticipantA young man I knew made rope with his on a simple rope twister that his father had built, then made simple “disposable” rope halters.
My trick: to get carrot seed to sprout, cover the seeding with old burlap sack cloth or other porous old fabric. The cloth holds moisture, keeps the surface from crusting, and keeps the seeds in place during spring downpours. When the seedlings poke through, gently lift the cloth.
March 31, 2009 at 3:59 pm #51217CIW
ParticipantWhile we are on the subject of bale twine, I use it to make hobbles from. I just make sure that I cut the strings beside the knot. 11 strings from a 40″ bale for saddle animals and for darfts I use strings from a 46″ bale.
Put the knot ends together. I squeeze them in a vice then twist and pull to keep them from buckling over. Twist as tight as you possibly can without pulling your bench over. This could be done between 2 people.
Holding the end with your right hand, hook the rope with your left hand and fold your right hand back to the vice. Let go with your left hand. It will twist up.
Tie all 22 the ends together. Trim off the excess. from the knot, to about 1 in.
Lastly melt the ends and squish it flat. I push it against a piece of steel.
To apply them, kneeling beside the animal put the loop end around the far leg from back to front. Cross the ends over twice between the legs. Put the loop end around the front of the near leg and the knot end around the back. Open the loop and pass the knot through.
These are inexpensive and quick to build, but mostly they work really well. When you have alot of animals like a pack string 10 or 12 sets of hobbles gets pretty expensive.
I wrote this in a quick reply so I will have to go back in and post a picture using the other reply method.March 31, 2009 at 4:05 pm #51218ParticipantHeres a photo.
April 1, 2009 at 5:57 am #51220ParticipantVicki; I like your burlap idea… it reminded me of how my Granny started her flower seeds: with those tiny seeds, it’s hard to water them w/out splashing them all over {she didn’t have peat moss much back in those days}. she planted the seeds in beds “double-gunny sack wide”, then split the sacks down their sides (leaving the bottom seam intact), wet them down, then spread them flat, suspended on a pole-and-string framework, about 6″ above the seed bed. Then she could just water the sacking ’til it started to drip… it would slowly drip small droplets onto the seeds & seedlings; plus, it would be cooler & damp under there for several hours. I don’t remember how she kept it from sagging or tightened it back up.
April 18, 2009 at 6:00 am #51221ParticipantHere’s a trick I just figured out about a week ago…
I want to experiment with growing some medicinal herbs in small raised beds. However, not yet having a trained draft animal handy, nor a riding cultivator as suggested by Carl for raised beds (in another thread), I decided to just build them; except scrap lumber is in short supply for me, right now. So, I built a reusable form out of a 1×6 & a 1×8 board = ended up being 3′ x 7 1/2′. I just place it, fill it with sifted compost, tamp the edges a bit to firm them up, then gently pry the frame up until I’ve got it loose. I then plant the bed. The edges crumble just a bit, but holds it’s shape pretty well, and I can now have raised beds in any pattern I need = very useful for filling in the edges of an irregular-shaped field & I’ve even managed to put the rocky end of the field into useful production. After the short-season crops & herbs are harvested, I’ll place beds in between these ones, and thus end up with a wide area of rocky soil coverd in 6″ of compost – for the price of 24 wood screws, a short 2×4 (to screw the boards together in the corners) & two boards I dug out of the dumpster. It takes me 4 wheelbarrow loads to fill this form with compost (estimated to be not quite a cubic yard). I’ll see how effective these raised beds are for herbs & cool-season veggies, while improving the soil in the area.November 1, 2009 at 4:02 am #51222ParticipantJust a bit of an update on the ‘raised beds’ form I built: the beds did just fine; in fact, after a full season, the compost settled about half it’s original height (about 5″), as I expected. They had the expected advantages over the conventional rows, and the form was easy to use/reuse…by now, though, it needs a bit of repair from screws coming loose in the old wood. An advantage to having used different height of wood on the sides than the ends: when placing/filing on uneven ground, it’s easy to swing it around to use the appropriate side/end downslope, to facilitate creating a level bed.
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