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dominiquer60
ModeratorThere are quite a few farmers composting moralities and offal in NY state. When I worked on a farm that processed chickens every month we had a huge compost pile for the processing waste. I am sure that it was a smaller scale than what you have, but if you want to get rid of the scraps this may be an option. As far as creating energy that is beyond what I know.
The county that I used to live in had a compost network to connect people with waste to the people that could turn the waste into compost.
Erika
ModeratorBivol,
Perhaps you are right about this. “luckily, i think no big scale reversion to horses is likely to take place, because horses are not numerous enough, and take a long time to grow in numbers.” But just remember the success that Cuba has had with oxen. Castro ordered that bull calves were to be spared and trained to work. The poor Cubans were deprived further with a limited supply of beef, but in the end they have a huge work force of animal power, and grow many crops without petroleum. Horses don’t have to save the world, but along with cattle, and a good mule or two, together they can save the sanity of a few on the small scale, of this I am certain:)Erika
ModeratorIf you hop a horse over a log does that make him a full fledged jumper, nope. If you drag a stick for training and therapy I don’t think it makes him a logging horse either. Go for it I would vouch for you.
Erika
ModeratorIf you ever end up with a Jang, it would be a Thank You to the Korean government for developing small farm equipment out of necessity. I can just picture you with a horse drawn no till Meter macc vacuum seeder:) that is a an f-you!
ModeratorI have not seen or used one of those corn planters, but would love to hear more about it.
Trashy ground and the Planter Jr. can cause problems. The first time I used a Jr on a regular basis, it was on a fine sandy loam, this is what the Jr. was made for. When I started using my Jr. here at Dale’s only 20 miles away from that sand, using a Jr. is a lot more challenging, but very doable.
I rarely have ideal seeding conditions here, it is too wet, too clumpy, to trashy, and too weedy. Yet the only seeded crop that we have plowed under in 2 years is this past summers parsnips, and they suffered from neglect and drought, best darn seeding of parsnips I have ever done, too bad. Seeding with a 3 pt Jr. is a two person job here, one to drive straight and the other to keep trash from building up with the Jrs. (5 of them at one time), and to keep small amounts of seed flowing toward the drop hole. I look forward to making this a one person job this summer with my new belly mount tractor and a wire hoe. Sometimes the ground is so clumpy it is a wonder things germinate for us at all, but with a little water and a few heeled in spots, we manage. Like most things the Jr. is not perfect, but it beats the alternative.
I’m not trying to sell you on the Jr of course, but I just wanted to note that the Jr. can be used on less than ideal ground, but the efficiency of it drops as well.Looking forward to hearing about this other corn seeder. Be Well
ErikaModeratorBrad,
Thanks for the details and pointers, if I can’t find a pair, perhaps we can put something together.
ErikaModeratorGeorge,
Here is a previous post with some great info:http://www.draftanimalpower.com/showthread.php?t=2772&highlight=bridle+chain
Carl has pictures of his bob in the 4th post and nice detailed photos of his bridle chains in the 6th post.
Erika
ModeratorIt is good to hear more success stories about bobsleds. We have a couple bobs hiding somewhere in one of the out buildings here. As my cattle get larger I can’t help but think about resurrecting one of our bobs to use in the woodlot. It will be nice to have a number of bobsled users to ask questions to when the time comes.
Did you make or find bridle chains? I was looking at some of Carl’s pictures and it appears that if you know what you are doing they may not be a big challenge to make, if you know what you are doing. I have another sled that I would like use a pair on in the mean time. I’m going to check with a couple neighbors that have some old stuff around as well, perhaps if I can’t find an existing pair, Dale could help me make a pair.
Anyway, keep us posted about your progress with the new bobsled, thanks Carl for the inspiration, and thanks for sharing Brad.
Erika
ModeratorI think that how soon we make a decision on this years event depends on how soon and well we research our options. It would be nice to have a time and location selected on the 16th, but we should at least rule out some options that don’t work for us.
Erika
ModeratorI think that how soon we make a decision on this years event depends on how soon and well we research our options. It would be nice to have a time and location selected on the 16th, but we should at least rule out some options that don’t work for us.
Erika
ModeratorYes The Earthway does do well for larger seeds. Dale picked up his Earthway cheap somewhere. It came with a bunch of different seed plates. The smaller sized seed plates didn’t work well at all, but for larger seeds it does meter the seed out fairly consistently. If he gets to planting beans before I do, he will still use his Earthway, if I beat him to it I use my Planet Jr #4. The results are fairly similar except that I can hoe between each hill and his rows require more handweeding.
In regards to regards to too thick or thin with a broadcast versus something like a Jr., the two are different. With the hand held or 3pt broadcaster the consistency of the seeding really does depend on your consistency of speed. With the Earthway or Planet Jr. the direct drive from the front wheel makes the speed at which the seeds are dropped relative to how fast you are walking. Since they are being dropped every certain distance that the front wheel turns and not slung about like the broadcast spreader the amount of seed and where it is placed stays rather consistent. I would not run with it but I see no difference whether I walk at 1 mph or 4 mph.
I have heard of the Jang now that you mention it. Here is a quote from another discussion on it.
“The Jang uses little rollers as opposed to a plate which I think helps it’s accuracy. It will drop exactly one round seed (radish, beet, pelleted lettuce or carrot, ect) at exactly the spacing you set (using gears) of between 4″ apart to 3/32”. It can get a bit tiresome changing gears and the rollers until you get used to planting similar things at the same time. To change seeds and the roller you remove the seed hopper from the unit (it slides out.) This makes pouring seeds out really easy, as you don’t have to lift the seeder to dump seeds… “
This reminds me about how awkward it is to remove seed from the Planet Jr #4 hopper, but nothing is perfect after all. The discussion above that I quoted also mentions that the Earthway is still the way to go for larger seeds and that the Jang is best for smaller round/pelleted seed so it is a little picky about what works well in it. The Jang certainly sounds like something that may someday make my seeder collection.Dale’s father taught me an old saying about why folks used to plant 4 kernels of corn in a hill “one for the cut worm, one for the crow, one to rot and one to grow.” I use mostly untreated seeds, so when my Planet Jr. spits out a few seeds with each pass of a sprocket, it doesn’t really bother me at all because I know that they wont all make it, or I can always thin a few out.
I am sure that what ever you end up with will take some of the labor away from doing it all by hand. Enjoy your purchase whatever it may be.
Erika
ModeratorYes you can use a team of oxen without the assistance of another person. Oxen can be trained to drive with lines to a bit, halter or nose rings or they can be taught to drive from behind using voice commands and a long lashed whip (just in case). Of course driving from behind requires more work from you the teamster.
I agree with a good amount of what Ixy has to say about cattle. Most real work that is done with horses is at the walk and cattle are also good at walking. I have trained my older team to trot while I jog or bicycle with them, it comes in handy the few times that I have wanted high gear. Horses can work at faster speeds more comfortably, but I would never ask a team of oxen to such work, and frankly I don’t think I could keep up.
One downfall that I see to cattle is that they don’t take the heat as well as horses. When it is 90 and you want to accomplish some cultivating or moving hay, don’t as such from the cattle, they can not sweat, and if you ever find cattle panting it is a bad situation. Another problem that I have heard of is that cattle shod or not have a hard time in crusty/icy conditions, their dew claws and pasterns can get sliced if overly worked in these condition. I know horses can be effected by this as well, but I have heard that cattle are more prone to such problems.
On the other hand cattle are generally less flighty and can be worked lightly at a younger age. Having worked a lot with horses and some with cattle I like them both, but cattle are best for my situation and lifestyle.
Erika
ModeratorI forgot to mention that when it comes to pumpkins and winter squash, we are rather old fashion. We mark it out with a tractor and take turns dropping a few seeds in a hill and using a hoe to cover. It works for us!
Erika
ModeratorI really like the spacer for crops that I want to hoe on weedy ground. With the spacing sprocket I can drop 3-4 beans in a clump every foot, when they emerge I can use a cultivator to get between the rows and a stirrup hoe in the row between the hills of beans. I found mine on eBay, but I know someone who found a gorgeous one helping an elderly neighbor clean out a old shed, she gave it to him as payment, totally worth every drop of sweat. Start looking and one will show up when you least expect it. Happy hunting.
ErikaModeratorLisa suggested I bring this up again.
Since we are heavily considering an alternative venue to the Tunbridge Fairgrounds, we should be looking for an alternative. David has looked into NOFA summer conference and I am checking into a couple fairgrounds in Eastern NY, just because I have ties to them and for price comparison. I encourage each of you to find a fairground or other facility that can meet our needs and call to see what having our annual event might cost us there.I looked into the Schaghticoke Fair and Altamont Fair grounds rental prices. At Altamont they charge the 4-H groups $525 a day for use of the rings, PA and horse barns. Of course we will want to use more buildings for workshops and indoor demos, the Ag and Sheep buildings could work nicely for these purposes, and using them will add to the cost as well camping options. The weekend of October 1st and 2nd is available for us if we want it. There are advantages and disadvantages of this location, but if all else fails it is a nice option to know the details about. I told them that our next meeting is the 16th and hopefully they have some numbers for us by then.
The Schagticoke fairgrounds is 30 minutes from Bennington and is also easy to get to. They have a smaller ring than we are used to, but they have a good sized indoor arena as well as a lot of open grassy space. This fair office shuts down for the winter, I left a message and an email, maybe we will get a reply in time for the meeting.
Anyway I just wanted to remind you all to think about alternative venues and see if we can’t round up some good info before the meeting.
Erika
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