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Robert MoonShadow
ParticipantI really like the way Andy stated it.
My question would be: Have you discussed this with your neighbor? I’m pretty outspoken, so my nature is to explain to him your concerns about ‘pulling your own weight’, while still maintaining your commitment to farming with horses. he might just see things your way, if it’s brought to his attention…if nothing else, it might help him to understand you better (always a good thing with neighbors, no?). And perhaps you can just rent/borrow a tractor to use during that one phase of farming (haying), if he insists on an ‘all-at-once’ approach.ParticipantI’m always interested in alternative weapons…I’ve used a blowgun effectively on coon when living in the ‘burbs of Chicago…
Is anyone else now carrying a mental visual of Jen in traditional Nordic wear, carrying a boar spear?
…not sure if that’s an excellent reason to continue to stay on this side of the Mississippi, or rather an enticement to finally commit to attending the next Field Days. :confused:Participant@Dobbin Forestry 35608 wrote:
We have been using a single horse cultivator with hillers to make our raised beds. It takes a couple passes on either side of the new bed to form the new bed and a quick bit of raking to levle the top… but a single row cultivator is a cheap and handy impement to have around.
Tristan
Tristan: Is this a walk-behind cultivator? ‘Cuz I’ve got one of those. Is there a hiller disc for a w-b cultivator? Jen: That looks cool (thanks for the link!), but I’m hoping not to have to buy a rider, when I’ve got a w-b. But I’m always watching the fence-rows. 😉 Ann’s stuff looks good to me…but the price = ouch! Maybe someday…
Blue80: Is this a rider or a w-b, that you’re talking about? If a rider, any idea how heavy?
I’ve seen the catalog of the stuff that Hogback puts out, but it looks to be to big/heavy for my donks to pull it (and my own sorry carcass). Shipping costs to out West here can be more than the purchase price on some things. I’d love to see a dealership of new/used HD equipment – they’d see my shadow on their lot, that’s for sure!ParticipantI bought a used Husky 61 for $150…62 cords of wood ago. I like the balance and shape of the Husky more than the Stihl, but I only use it to put out firewood to sell…I also have had good Jonsereds – I guess {for me} it’s all in what’s comfortable (and affordable). Same with me trucks – I don’t really care about the brand, but more the value of that particular vehicle or saw.
ParticipantJen: Yup! Quite a bit of excitement, there, for a while! I think the weasel was after the mouse/mice that was there near the chicken feed & when I choused the mouse out, it got caught up in the hunt – the mouse got clean away. The weasel was moving so fast, that all I saw – even when it ran up my leg – was a bushy tail – so I assumed it was a pack rat until Kiss killed it. Dogs colliding, me demonstrating my here-to-fore unknown ability to break-dance; the guys in the drift boats after salmon must’ve really wondered what the h*** was going on!
When Tugboat killed that Rhodie hen when I first got them (about a month ago), her jaws are so big, that there were punture wounds & tears on her back, under the wing & on the neck… I ‘tenderized’ that chicken on Tuggie’s head/butt/body…as well as Nell & Kiss – just to make sure they weren’t involved (might as well make full use of the dead bird). Now whenever the hens manage to escape & strut around, the dogs barely even look at them.
ParticipantMy border collie/Aussie cross was chasing down a mouse when she trapped it under some stuff…with a weasel! Mouse got away, Tugboat (the Nefie/Great Pyrenees) and Kiss (the hound) all joined in on the Great Weasel War (as did the Pirate, when it tucked up under a wall) and after 20 minutes of high sounds & great energy (and the little %&^&%$ running up a certain person’s leg…twice!), nell & Tuggie had it on the run, it doubled back towards the wall…and The Great Hunter Kiss snatched it by the back in mid-leap (hers AND its!) and with a couple of quick shakes, eliminated a threat to me chickens. It was moving so fast, I could only glimpse its tail – even when it started up me leg – and I thought it was a pack rat until Kiss got a hold of it. I think it was actually after the mouse, which was after the chick feed, but mice are Nell’s job, and I’ve seen what weasels can do to an entire henhouse in just minutes.
For the record: that high-pitched scream that sounded like a little girl’s, I think came from Tugboat, and had absolutely nothing to do with the PiratepFarmer.
No, really.Participant@dominiquer60 35242 wrote:
I take pride in not receiving government funding. Many were tempted by the hoophouse funds here in the NE, but I told my extension agent I don’t want my tax money back in that manor, plus I hate paperwork and that was part of the deal. Diversity is key and if a farmer puts all his eggs in a 10,000 acre of corn basket, that is the risk that they take. It will be interesting to what happens if these subsidies are taken away.
I would like to see disaster aid continue, after the storms last fall it was nice to have help digging out and getting started rebuilding, something that most communities could not have survived without help. I do partake in one NYS government Farm Program, though there is some private and grant funding also, but I find the NYSFarmNet a most valuable program for farmers looking for legal, financial and emotional help. They help with business plans and generation transfers which has kept and strengthened many family farms in our state, and the program takes miniscule funding compared to most other programs and it gives back so much to the community by helping farms stay in business. This is the kind of support that farmers need not money in the pocket for growing or not growing crops.
Very well said!
ParticipantJen – Something that eats grain, but not birds? Definitely not a bear, methinks…first thought is a deer.
ParticipantMink – I’m not giving them credit to be able to count to 2…in fact, they’d probably argue about it: “That was ONE!” “No, that was TWO!” “You’re full of it; that was…what’s that smell?!?” “It’s your fault – jerk…!!”
ParticipantYou’re welcome, Lucinda! We do try to be helpful, here. One thing about putting a donkey in with the goats – make sure they’re acclimated to each other; one of my donkey girls tolerates & protects the goats…the other will pick one up and toss it, if it irritates her or gets in the way of her & the hay feeder or whatever. Obviously, that’d harm or kill a goat – especially a baby.
I’ve got my goats on an intensely thick patch of brush right now – took me 3 hours to clear enough to put up 4 rolls of netting – and the land is only slightly rolling! After two days, I can already see the fence on the other side if I peer hard enough = that’s about 3/4 of an acre that’s showing results with 8 grown & 4 kids.
They eat. They play. They poop.
I make money.
I like being a farmer!ParticipantWe were taught as kids that they always tapped their front paws twice before spraying, unless startled…not sure if that was a myth or my brothers couldn’t count to two! I distinctly remember their several tomato-juice baths on the back porch.
And Jen – you’re right = looking through all these responses, it IS funny1ParticipantThey like marshmallow…hate moth balls…when I live-trap the neighbors’, I already have a 20-foot rope tied to the cage & slowly pull it to where I can kill it or turn it loose. They’re very near-sighted, so if you move slowly enough, and stay back 10′ or so, they can hardly notice you…{I used to have a couple as pets as a kid}.
ParticipantJen – It’s not so much what I said, but how I said it = with ‘force’!!
And now, I can show people the difference, when they ask me what’s the dif between a pirate & a pirate-farmer:
Pirates have parrots on their shoulders…
…Pirate-Farmers have…um…a rooster?!?ParticipantGot a total of 27 chicks (“mystery breed”) from Sand Hills Preservation yesterday…one died, but the other 26 are doing well…only 14 actual ‘mystery’ birds – various genetic crossed he does – so he filled in with the rest in various other breeds he’s got – Golden Lakenvelders, Auburn Sumatra, etc., – I got $68.80 (by my calculations) worth of birds for $17.50. Plus, the day before, I bought 2 Rhodies & 2 Australorps that are about 2-year-olds…getting eggs every day, although the big dog killed a Rhodie that got out, after I dealt with her, the other Rhodie got out…walked right by all 3 dogs, right up to me…and the dogs cringed away from her! I’m really interested in the posts here – it’s exactly what I have in mind.
ParticipantSounds like a good deal to me…but I’m not an expert on wagon prices…it just looks good, from what I see.
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