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Kevin Cunningham
ParticipantI wanted to do an update on the All in One. We used to unit to prep and plant all of our fall and winter gardens. Using the furrower, the discs to make beds and I made a simple planter to go on it. The planter is just a tool bar and two earthways bolted to it pretty simple but I am proud of it none the less. I can’t wait to use it in the garden next year. The only thing I will need to do is make a new yoke that set the steers a little wider apart. Right now their yoke is 36 in on center, but I think I need at least 42 in. I will have to make a new yoke soon anyways. Here are a few more pictures.
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You must be logged in to view attached files.ParticipantI do not know much about the grazing needs of horses but I can share what we do with our oxen. Right now they are a secondary power source for our vegetable operation as I am slowly but surely transitioning to draft. But I still put a tremendous amount of time into my boys. We use net fencing almost exclusively on the farm but we have used more permanent paddocks of varying size with t posts and polywire as well. Our current grazing schedule is evening grazing following the milk cow. She gets a fresh 50 by 50 during the day then the oxen come in as clean up crew. The team will be 4 this next April so they are not yet into the weight gaining time of their lives so this might have to change. In the morning they are tied in the barn and fed hay and minerals. The dairy cow is in the barn at night for milking. This way the boys are right there if I need to yoke them and they give me their daily deposit. I have had to switch the way I think about the chores as part of the work side of working animals. One of the biggest benefits that they give us is the manure. So part of their job is concentrating nutrients in the barn so I can compost it. And when I can’t yoke on a certain day I at least have the walk to and from the pasture to work on our training out of the yoke. So it too is not a chore but part of the work. When I switched my frame of mind to make the chore part of the animals into the work side of animals it has helped me get out a little earlier, sometime still in my pajamas to work my animals.
ParticipantSounds like an exciting project Tom. I don’t know anything about logging but I do know that mixed power seems to be the best option for most situations in our current situation. I am finding that I can’t go full in yet without some transitionary steps. At least in my lifetime I hope to always be able to put gas in my chainsaw.
I might get the chance to do some ox logging this winter as well. A friend of mine wants to thin some “dog hair” stands of fir. Small logs with little value but they see it as investing in the future health of the forest.
I can see how the word of mouth value of draft logging could spread quickly in a community. A lot of people around here seem to be into the idea of using draft in the woods. It is yet to be determined if they will pay for it though.
June 21, 2014 at 7:12 pm in reply to: Cultivation Demonstrations at Stephen Leslie's Market Garden #83657ParticipantWish I could go, someday I am going to make it to a DAP event I swear it.
June 21, 2014 at 6:47 pm in reply to: 9. Int. Ox Drovers' Meeting at the Écomusée d'Alsace 29.05.2014 – 01.06.2014 #83649ParticipantDoes this mean that the group has been meeting for 9 years? That is great and I love the photos of the improved head yoke design. Maybe someday I can cross the pond and see how it is done over there.
ParticipantNot to rub it in but we got in another 100 bales of nice grain hay. I say this only to share the different cycles. CA is in the worst drought in decades which make for good hay weather but I had failures in my corn and buckwheat last season. I remember four years ago we had three inches and hail the first weekend in June. I wasn’t the only one to lose hay that year. Farmers are an optimistic lot. There’s always next year.
ParticipantCommon wisdom around here is not to cut before Memorial day. It is too risky that bring said we already put 300 bales in the barn and it was some of the best hay we’ve had here. We got lucky this year.
ParticipantYour version looks nice and stout. Mine was pretty wimpy and broke apart quickly after pulling a short while. I did not go back to the project but now I am inspired to try again now the my steers are larger and I know how strong a drag like this needs to be. I have a stick of poplar I might into my next attempt. If I remember correctly the Martin ditcher had a bar across the front to hold onto as the rider adjusted their feet. Seems like a good idea to have a hand hold otherwise you are freestyle road surfing
ParticipantIt is a small world indeed. I have lived in both Shively and Manila. I miss the eight feet of silt loam in Shively. If you get back to CA we are behind the new Carlotta fire station river side of the road. I am fairly new to draft three and a half years into training a team of oxen but I am constantly learning more. Can’t wait to get the all in one all of our potatoes and other storage crops are at 36 in spacing so hopefully we can use the bulls to cultivate and hill this year.
ParticipantWe will be using the All-in-One this fall when we plant the winter gardens. Our spring and summer plantings are already in at tractor spacings. And I plan to do a “mini” bed system similar to what Erika was talking about. We will put 2-3 rows with enough path spacing to walk the steers either as a team or single, for cultivation. I recently acquired an old Planet Jr walk behind seeder, that I think will make a perfect match to the All-in-One. It has two seed boxes and is controlled with handles in a similar orientation to the All-in-One. One advantage I can see with the steers is that I can make a yoke of any length and spacing to fit the rows. In fact I think I have seen pictures or diagrams of cultivating yokes that have a large spacing between the the animals. I’ll post some pictures when we get it all together.
ParticipantThanks George that is exactly what I hope to do with our farm, use old and new when appropriate. Our crowd funding experience has been great with lots of learning and rewards. I got a call from our local chiropractor who is sending a check in, they don’t do pay pal, but he just wants to support more good food in our community. Even in a small community like here you would be surprised at how many people just don’t know what you are doing. They might think that it is a wonderful thing but they don’t see you and therefore don’t know. It really makes me realize how much room for growth in the sustainable farming world there truly is. Any how it has been fun and we get a new toy to play with.
Participantwell that worked
ParticipantParticipantnope
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