[dominiquer60]

I suppose this fit idea gives some merit to the phrase, “survival of the fittest.”

[dominiquer60]

Ben,

Full Circle and The Soul of a Tree, books about the thought and wood working of George Nakashima. They are not about sustainable forestry, but are about giving new life to the wood once it is harvested. There are some references to unusual harvests, like carefully removing a plum tree from the royal gardens in Japan, talk about low-impact. I thought of these since you use the Draftwood brand name. I know that there are some wood workers out there that like the really crazy shapes, rough edges and the unusual stuff that many of us would find difficult to saw or hack up into firewood. There can be some really prized pieces hiding in a pile of “junk” and perhaps these books would be an inspiration as to the potential of some unusual and high end Draftwood end products. Just my 2 cents, find some good milk to drink and get well soon.

Erika

http://www.nakashimawoodworker.com/

[dominiquer60]

Jason,
I think that I was paying attention that day in the woods, is this the cradle hitch that you are talking about?

Erika

[dominiquer60]

Well Jason,

Down here, south of the deep south we are gearing up for a below average temperature spell with nights in the 40s and highs in the 60s. If it weren’t for the fact the the 100% humidity likes to come at you sideways all night long this would not be such a bad thing. Going home every morning to an unheated uninsulated RV doesn’t help much either. Enjoy those wood stoves and hopefully VA will share some of the next snow with the north. If it is going to be cold up there it would be nice to have some additional insulation on the berries and gardens. Stay warm you all, I am off to work.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

Thank you Donn, that was fantastically thorough picture documentation, even a novice like myself can follow the construction of your winter arch. Now if only I had taken those welding classes that I was tempted to sign up for.

[dominiquer60]

Right now our main herd is out in a winter lot where we can feed them easily. My calves are in the barn with a few other youngsters that are getting fed up to weight and a couple cow calf pairs that were not planned for late fall. They spend nice days out in the barnyard and get turnout out to the water hole twice a day. Already the trained animals are a problem, they haven’t nursed since they were about 2 months and they were weaned from a bottle at 5-6 months, but now at 9 months of age they have taken up the habit of nursing off the red cow, the black cow won’t have them. I am not in favor of allowing this to happen, but I am 1500 miles away and they are not my animals.

When I do get a pair of steers of my own in the future, I will certainly have them separate from the beef heard and preferably out in a shed away from the dark and dismal cow barn. I will have put too much effort into my team to risk harm to them and I like the heard bulls to much to bother them. The heard is not mine and I wouldn’t want to risk any cattle getting hurt. I am sure that there are exceptions to everything, but keeping oxen separate appears to be my best bet for so many reasons.

That is what farming is all about, finding what works best for you, and that is why no two farms are ever alike.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

Congratulations! Way to set the bar high and show that sustainable is more than just no till and IPM practices, you show that it can be taken much further. I hope other states begin to take VT’s lead. NY has Dairies of Distinction, maybe we can work on Sustainable Farms of Distinction. Good Job!

[dominiquer60]

I agree J-L, if you hooked that nice looking mule to a wagon with a teammate some of the slack should come out. The britching looks too low to me, if you brought it up to where it should be and hook as fore mentioned it should look better. I have a little harrow like that and look forward to having my calves drag a little this spring.

[dominiquer60]

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/traceability/

The USDA has officially dropped NAIS, but announces a new framework for Animal Disease Traceability.

If you read the Q&A download from this link it is almost refreshingly honest about the failure of the NAIS and tries to explain what I see are the goals of the new system, as they are suddenly in the process of making it.

“The new framework focuses only on animals that
move in interstate commerce. So, small producers
who raise animals and move them within a State,
Tribal Nation, or to local markets, as well as to feed
themselves, their families, and their neighbors are not
a part of the framework’s scope and focus.”

I am tempted to say that it sounds like the USDA has listened to and acknowledged the little guys. Some of the statements on this link make sense to me, and that scares me. I feel like this is the first sign that things could be different in a good way with this new administration, just because it appears that they have listened. Personally I will chalk it up as a step in a better direction and hope it doesn’t lead to two steps back.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

I don’t know too much about pulling, but even as a kid at the fair my money was on the oldest quiet guy with the biggest quietest horses. In this picture, http://www.draftanimalpower.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=901&d=1265084434the perch had been to a pulling contest the weekend before and doing a plowing demo at NEAPFD. We led him because he had never plowed single before and we wanted to concentrate on getting the plow tuned up, and Sam wasn’t worried about training him for something he would likely never do again. It would seem that there are work horses that can pull well and some pulling horses that can’t work at all.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

Carl,

Unfortunately this state is huge and Palmetto is 4.5 hours away on the south side of Tampa Bay. I think a pair of black Shires or Cyldes with lots of chrome would look slick, or a nice pair of badass Percherons. Something monochromatic and SUV like anyway.

Dale and I just drove to Key West last week, 250 miles one way was enough time behind the wheel. The next time I get behind the wheel with the intention of covering some miles it will be to head north, and hopefully for good.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

Don’t forget FUH3, there are plenty of them around south FL, I noticed the dealership looks like a ghost town and is for sale 🙂

[dominiquer60]

Single horse plows are not easy to come by. I have a 1899 Syracuse Chilled Plow Co. catalog and they made 8″, 9″, 10″ and 12″ single horse plows. They were rated for very light, light, medium and large horses. The thing to keep in mind is how do 1899 horse sizes compare to today’s work horse sizes? I have an 8″ Syracuse, there is a picture on another post, http://www.draftanimalpower.com/showthread.php?t=2444&page=2. If you look at the picture of us using it you will notice that we had to extend the line of draft with a chain (we would have used a longer one if we had it) because Sam’s 2000lb Percheron was way too big for this plow, he walked off like it wasn’t there. My plow was made for a very light horse in 1899 terms and could certainly be pulled by a well conditioned 1000 lb animal today.

Your nice looking horse when conditioned for it should be able to handle some plowing. I am not experience enough to say whether it could handle a 12″ plow for any long amount of time. I suppose with the right conditioning, lots of breaks and a little at a time (1/4 acre a day give or take), it is not impossible. A good plow is adjustable, in theory you should be able to adjust a 12″ to take as little as 10″. I am looking forward to what others have to say, because I will be in the same boat soon.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

This is excellent news!
However I will believe it when I see it, the info did come unofficially and anonymously. There were too many opportunities for private companies to make money, and with the big “food safety” flare up I wonder for how long we will be with out a national system. In NY we still have NY Animal ID to deal with, unless we can convince the governor it is unnecessary. The state is actually working on streamlining agencies as we speak, but the time to give public comments about AG & Markets has expired already, I found out too late.

I think individual “industries” are doing their own part to ID animals that are in their systems and there are good and effective disease tracking programs already in exist (Scrappies, Nat. Poultry Improvement Plan). We really don’t need this higher level of control or “assurance.” I hope this is a dead dog, but knowing the government and the general public fear of anything out side of a bubble, I wouldn’t count it dead yet.

Erika

[dominiquer60]

Hi Cameron,
Sounds like you found something appealing about this group:) I too had no farm experience other than mucking a stall and stacking a little hay. I wanted to farm since I was a kid, I suffered through 4 years of college to find out that I still wanted to farm. Now I am so close I have all but to change my address, I will proudly add part time vegetable farmer to my IRS forms this year. The best advise I can give you is get your hands dirty, jump in and decide what really feels best for you. Real work turns those glossy and or dusty books into just a quick reference on the shelf, for nothing beats sweat under the brim and dirt under the nails.

Good Luck,

Erika

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