[dominiquer60]

Reddox,

I am not sure where you are located but the University of VT has a wonderful Extension Agent named Heather Darby. She is an agronomist well versed in organic practices in many crops. She may have some good resources to recommend. Heather.Darby@uvm.edu52

Erika

[dominiquer60]

We’ve collected our first 300 gallons and it is currently being boiled off as I write this 1500 miles away from the sap house.

[dominiquer60]

A seeder would be great. I bought a Planet Jr. with six units last spring and a 4 row stanhay, both wonderful tools. We took the Jr. apart, cleaned, greased, rearranged into a 5 row unit and had it working in the field with in 2 hours. It was interesting because all the units are set up on an 8′ Allis Chalmers G angled tool bar, and this was attached to a standard 3 pt. tool bar. 8′ is rather wide, I would like to cut it down to 6′ leaving a 2′ scrap. I’d like to find a way to attach the seeder to an animal drawn cultivator type tool using the 2′ scrap of angled G toolbar. It would have to have a lever to lift it off the ground or it would put too much stress on the seeder running it on the ground everywhere.

I really like to use this AC G as an example of a feature that I really like, belly mounted toolbar. Having the ability to watch the seeder working and to steer a cultivator safely through a crop is really priceless. That is what attracts me to a riding cultivator like the old New 4.

Just more thoughts to send west.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

No problem Goeff, I like the tangent idea that was brought up.

The Pioneer guy noticed that there was a lot of interest in working single animals and teams of small size (2 smaller horses), in fact he wanted to buy my little syracuse plow for a model. Midwest farms tend have larger flatter fields and are often single cropped and make using big hitches and big equipment easier, think photos of HPD.

We have big fields in the Northeast but they can have some wicked slopes and many of them are owned by dairy farmers that use tractors. Many of us small animal powered type farmers (think Nordells from Cultivating Questions) have small odd shaped fields or if we do have the pleasure of some flat ground, we may have many types of crops to tend to there. Personally I have some flat with 40 types of vegetables and each crop gets treated differently, I also have some .3 A triangles and a larger “L” shaped thing that is a nice piece of ground, just hard to layout maneuver around. We need equipment that is adaptable to the slope, shape and size of our fields and can meet the needs of a variety of crops with ease of changing it around everyday. Also, many of us don’t have a lot for animal power so a small piece of equipment that can be used for a single or double is also handy.

I would love to have something as versatile as the old JD New 4 culivator that the Nordells use and have a range of modified implements (seeder, etc) or attachments for it. Promatta’s equipment is nice too because it is made for minimal HP and is very versatile. I guess that the new equipment in my mind, would be largely for cultivation, but like you mentioned It would be nice to attach one of my Planet Jrs or tine weeder to it. Since older cultivator parts are not always available, maybe you could have a choice of what the frame was like as far as what type of clamps can attach to it. For instance if you run into some old McDeering cultivators, you could have a frame that they can attach, or if you want a modern double diamond bar for new attachments you could order that frame with your equipment.

I am sure that there could be some folks in Ohio with small odd shaped operations that could use something like this as well as Appalachia and little hill side farms all over the world.

Hope that explains a little more,

Erika

[dominiquer60]

Its all right guys, I enjoyed the discussion all the same. Looks like weather will delay the trip, so I will hold of for a week to print this up. Thanks for the great ideas. I think this type of discussion could never be had without such a great site that DAP has become.

[dominiquer60]

I am going to send this thread to Ohio soon, If there are any more suggestions pertaining to the Pioneer creation speak up now, or feel free to write to them, they seem like nice folk and are open to suggestions.
Erika

[dominiquer60]

Just a note to anyone interested in urban farming, it is important to have a thorough soil test, especially for heavy metals and pollutants. Friends of mine “farmed” the lot next to them in Troy, NY and their youngest has lead poisoning. I imagine there is more risk of such problems here in the northeast with our highly industrial past in urban areas. My friends switched to containers and raised beds with imported soil. Such a shame, all these empty lots and the soil is too contaminated to use.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

Hello Tim and welcome,

I am also from upstate, the real New York, and I have working cattle. I found an 8″ single horse plow by chance at an auction and I am looking forward to painting, and using it some time this spring perhaps. It is made for a very light horse and I have been told that my yearling working beef mutt co-ed team should be useful with it, if properly contitioned. I have a lead on another plow to investigate when I get home from my winter work, perhaps it is something that would be useful to you. Anyway good to have you here and good luck with your working cow.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

Jen,

I have been on a farm that would sell the pig to said out of family customer and the customer would also pay us what it cost to have the pig slaughtered and then butchered by a state inspected facility to the customers specifications. Perhaps a more “legal” way would be to be paid for the pig, then the customer also has to pay the butcher. In your case, I am not sure about the gray area of you cutting the pig and selling the pig, especially in your state.

I bought a pig from a friend and we killed and dressed in right there on the farm. I chose to bring it to my local butcher for cutting and smoking, but I could have stayed and helped my friends cut and wrap their pig and ours for free. Since money did not exchange pass the point of pig purchase I don’t feel on farm cutting and wrapping would have been wrong in this case. However I was not in a position to spend a whole day away from the farm, and I like vacuum packaging for long distance travel and long term storage. Another thing to consider is if I was to get sick from improperly handled pork, there is no chance that I would sue my friends if we had cut and wrapped ourselves. Be careful to choose customers of this sort wisely.

That’s my two cents,

Erika

[dominiquer60]

It looks nice and gives some well explained information. Did you do it yourself? What software did you use? I am currently getting text and pictures together for a site for our farm, but I don’t care for the restrictions of my mac iweb program so any suggestions would be appreciated. I definitely like the way yours is put together and it is easy to navigate.

Good work,

Erika

[dominiquer60]

The greenhouse is getting more attention than the tap line today, so no taps yet.

Thanks loggerswife, I hope it will double as a nice washing and packing shed for most of the year, it would be awful nice to use such a building for more than a month each year.

Mark, I’m not sure exactly its a partly home made 2x9ish, but I know that Dale is seriously contemplating buying a bigger one so that he gets a few hours of sleep during sugaring. This could be for sale next year.

I hope the sap flows well for you all and be safe,

Erika

[dominiquer60]

If Dale didn’t get to it today, he will start tapping tomorrow. We do 2 to 4 lines with 250 to 450 taps total depending on how much time we have. Dale started a new sap house last year but still no floor or siding. We are thinking of how we can use it the rest of the year as a washing and packing barn for our market garden.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

Did you measure to see if the beam is sprung?
With the bottom touching on level ground the bridle end of the beam should be 15-17 inches off the ground, at least with a walking plow, it could be a different for a sulky.

[dominiquer60]

I second what Don said, there are good haflingers out there, from what I have seen of both breeds the fjords seem more fitting to my liking, but that is only my liking. I’m know that there are bad and good in each breed, so choose based on the horses mind, limb and hoof rather than the color. I have seen some wonderful grade animals that I would bring home in a heart beat.

Chunks appeal to me a lot, and I fantasize what a pair of welsh cob crossed to suffolks would be like. You might consider finding a chunky grade pair that are larger than fjorlingers that have hybrid vigor and perhaps you have to be clever with harnessing at first, but in couple of years you will have an easier time of it and have a pair of horses. Grade horses can be cheaper than purebreds and unless you plan on breeding or showing you don’t need to pay the long dollar for registered papered purebreds.

Make sure you test drive, the more time the seller is willing to take with you, probably means the better the situation. Of course there are wheeler and dealers that will do anything for a sale, never underestimate your gut feeling. Don’t rush if the seller is pressuring you at all, if the horses have been sold before you are good and ready to part with your money, than it wasn’t meant to be.

Good Luck I am excited for you,

Erika

[dominiquer60]

Eating without a bar code in South FL is tough, but seeing as I brought some staples I can do it if I try.

Breakfast was home fries and eggs with barcode condiments and NY apples shipped with no bar code via my truck.

Supper will be home grown sausage and canned home made sauce, bar code pasta, local greens salad, bar code frozen dairy product with home made blueberry preserves.

I try to incorporate something from home in every meal, or what little local stuff that I can find. It amazes me to live in the farmingest county in the state and it is so hard to find anything local to eat. It ships all over, just not here.

Now if I were home and bartered for a quantity of wheat from a friend, we could go for months with just added salt and pepper, with a little buckshot now and then. The one thing that I would really miss is olive oil, butter and lard would have to suffice. We have a fully stocked cellar, 2 freezers, cider, could milk a beef cow, lots of chickens, eggs, beef, trout, and venison and 2 cold houses filled with winter greens. This is yet another reason that I should stay in NY for the winter, there is more wholesome food there than in sunny tropical FL.

Erika

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