[dlskidmore]

@near horse 28647 wrote:

If you chose the right sheep breed, you could allow them to graze AND provide milk for growing your pigs until the orchard is up to speed. At least it’s an indirect way of raising your pigs on the bluegrass

That adds a major labor overhead though…

[dlskidmore]

Huh. Sounds like it has to be raw honey (pasturization boils off hydrogen peroxide) and raw or low heat pasturized milk (cofactors in the milk make hydrogen peroxide more effective and are broken down under high heat pasturization.) I still was not clear about the dilution rates, the precise rates given were for petri dish culture, not for liquid state culture.

[dlskidmore]

@Countymouse 28626 wrote:

If I add in the whey I can get for free and the field crops I can raise, and who knows how many pigs I can raise?

Depends on if you’re going to manage to get an artisian pork price out of mast finished pigs, or if this is just one sustainable part of your pig raising operation. Although the trees will ramp up production slowly and require supplementation the first years anyway, can’t try for artisian pork until the trees are mature. I’d be tempted to graze sheep or other more gentle grazers in there while the trees are growing. You can hay the lanes, but grazers will get closer to the trees than machines can.

[dlskidmore]

Are you going to plant the field crops under the trees or in a different field? If seperate, is that part of the 2.5 acres? If the field crops are not going under the trees, what are you planning for understory plants? (Although you probably won’t get much understory in the Black Walnut area.)

How many hogs do you think you will be able to maintain this way? Or will you just do a slow buildup until you see fruit waste decline?

If you’re planting the trees at adult tree spacing, do you have plans for the space between while they are still young?

[dlskidmore]

@near horse 28616 wrote:

Lane makes a good point about language

With new folks, language starts at the introduction. What do you tell folks that ask you what you do? “Farmer”, “Horse Farmer”, “Small Business Owner”, “Farmwife”, “Housewife”?

…”Historical Agriculture Re-enactor”, “Agricultural Preservationist”… 😉

[dlskidmore]

@Riverbound 28610 wrote:

My latest strategy in dealing with the inevitable incredulity is to avoid discussion of economics, practicality, sustainability, etc. and focus on enjoyability.

So far I’m only economically commiting to the “hobby farm” level. I often use the “hobby farm” or “gentlewoman farmer” terminology with coworkers. Most of them assume I’m a dreamer and don’t think I’ll really ever quit the job to become a full time farmers. I think we can get to the point though where enough of the college debt has been paid, and enough farm groundwork laid, to go full time. I guess that leaves me time to raise a couple handy steers. 🙂 (Although I’ve promised myself that I’ll eat my first steer. I don’t want to fool myself about a calf’s potential because he’s cute and I raised him. The chickens too, the first year I keep chickens I won’t keep egg layers over winter. If I can’t hack that, then I don’t belong in animal farming. The sheep though are pretty darn useful to me alive, going to breed for the handspinning market, maybe get into art felt and yurt cover production.)

[dlskidmore]

@J-L 28601 wrote:

If you are like the rest of us on this board, working animals is a huge part of why you do what you do.

A character in a book I read once said “Never do anything for only one reason.” Although impractical to apply to everything in life, I try to consider this in my major decisions.

• I want to be self employed in a kid-friendly environment, and raise my own kids while still contributing to family finances.
• I have my mother’s genetics, and if I don’t quit the desk job and do more manual labor, my job will eventually kill me. (Her heart disease was treatable, but because of the heart disease the surgeon wouldn’t remove her tumor, and the side effects of the chemo alongside the tumor rendered inoperable by radiation is killing her.)
• I want to do something I love doing. (Gardening, animal training.)
• I want to eat healthier.
• I want to can/freeze more of my own food.
• In my farming research I read an interesting article about the overhead of equipment caused horse farmers to make more dollars per acre than tractor farmers, and generally with better hours since the horses needed a midday rest. (Although they tend to work fewer acres and have less total profit, I see the lower risk as a major factor.)

I’m still in the planning phase, we’ve just finished unloading a couple major debts so we can save our farm down payment faster. I am still a bit nervous myself about how successful I’ll be, so I can’t project any confidence on that front, but I know deep inside me that I have to give it a try.

I’m not even sure how much I will rely on animal power. The first few years I’m going to try to do everything with a walking tractor. I’ve promised myself I’m eating the first set of males I raise, to make sure I don’t turn them into pets. There are certainly though tasks that a handy steer would be useful for (dragging pasture, hauling stuff, confusing the customers.)

[dlskidmore]

@Lane Linnenkohl 28586 wrote:

What is her investment in this that she has to react this way?

Only pride.

Well, I suppose she did co-sign a small loan for hubby once, so if hubby quit his job and we were flops at farming she would be affected, but we’re not really planning on the farm making us any money at first. I’m keeping my day job for a while, and hubby will never give up his desk job for manual labor.

[dlskidmore]

I’m in a financial position to pick up parts now, but Erin is still very much a puppy, with wild bursts of puppy energy, so I think we’ll stick to tire pulling for now. The last thing I want is to put in the effort to build this thing and have her break it the first time out. 🙂

[dlskidmore]

@dominiquer60 20989 wrote:

Perhaps this is not the best thing to do but I wish is was a possibility, but we actually cannot use a chisel on the flat because we are afraid of ripping up the 100 year old shallow clay tiles that drain our only flat ground.

I’ve been reading “Farm drainage: The Principles, Processes, and Effects of Draining Land with Stones, Wood, Plows, and Open Ditches, and Especially with Tiles” by Henry F. French (Copyright 1859). Reading along I recalled your issue with shallow tiles. The author emphasizes the importance of putting the tiles below the reach of the subsoil plow (he recommends 4 feet) but notes the experts in NY (a hotbed of farm drainage technology at the time) were recommending 2.5 to 3 feet deep drains. (The author was the predominant expert in NH, no other states mentioned as having particular experts on the subject.)

[dlskidmore]

Where in Western NY? Farmer Brown is south of Rochester: http://www.farmerbrownsplowshop.net/ He mostly does implements, but he’s probably know if there was a good harness shop nearby.

[dlskidmore]

You might ask for vet records or a statement from the vet.

[dlskidmore]

P.S. I may find it worth a really small livestock trailer for hauling sheep, which I intend to have more of than beefers. Hauling beef would be a secondary purpose to being able to take my micro-flock to a larger farm that can actually attract a shearer.

[dlskidmore]

I’m just going to take some notes here…

The implement I looked at the manual for seemed to indicate that hitches average 10″ off the ground. I’d like that even with or below my axle for stability.

Wheels:
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_1030_1030

$23 each, poly, so no repairing if they break, bearings included, 1/2″ bore, 150-lb. capacity

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200331766_200331766

$25 each, spoke construction, solid rubber tire, bearings included, 1/2″ bore, weight rating of 150 lbs, heavier than poly wheel.

I’m leaning towards the solid rubber tires. They’re only a little more, and can proably take a bit more abuse.

Weight rating is multiplied by the number of tires to a point? So a two wheeled cart would have a 300 lb rating. That’s plenty for the sidewalk sweeper, probably enough for other implements I’d want her pulling in the first place. This is not a ride-on forecart, I’ll be walking beside her when she’s pulling an implement. I don’t think she could pull a full sized chain harrow or anything with a lot of drag like that. My first set of shafts will be flimsy anyway, as I’m not sure if she has some growing to do yet.

Axle:
So, for an axle I can do a threaded rod and nuts, or smooth rod and pins. I think the threaded would be easier and sturdier?

Frame & Hitch:
I don’t have any welding equiptment, so I think I’d put a perforated square tube over the axle, to bolt the shafts and hitch to. Then the hitch itself would be a small amout of bar stock with a couple holes drilled in it. The frame should be wide enough that the shafts only need to make a vertical adjustment to Erin’s size.

Shafts:
Erin might still be growing, so I’m going to start with flimsy PVC shafts. 1/2″ PVC, (4) 45 eblows, not sure if I want to do the trace rings from PVC or drill the PVC and put in metal ones. A compression strap holding a ring to the pipe would be simplest, but would not hold up to heavy downhill braking. (which is not on the adjenda) This will be a bit flexible and bouncy, and more forgiving of measurement errors when fitting her. Once I have the PVC angles right, and Erin is definately done growing I can make better shafts.

In the long run I might cut more eleganty curved shafts from plywood. I’m afraid metal with threaded fittings would get heavy quick.

A PVC frame would be really easy with PVC shafts, but I don’t want the hitch sturdier than the frame.

As a side note, I just sumbled accross a miniature manure spreader: http://www.newerspreader.com/ The smaller model is 110 lbs empty, when full probably too much for Erin solo, but doable if she had a partner. An idea to leave on the back burner for now, but I’m keeping an eye out for useful attachments…

[dlskidmore]

So, can the implement hitch clamp on tight enough to provide stability back to the forecart, or does the forecart need to be solid? The dog drafting group thinks I’d be happier with a single swivel wheel under the hitch. I usually like dorsal shafts for dogs, but for the forecart I think I’d do traditional dual shafts, to provide stability to that single swivel wheel in training phases, and make backing up the implement easier.

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