fort causeway

[blue80]

Just wanted to post what we’ve been up to and the direction we hope to head into. There has been a lack of animals in the field due to working on infrastructure, but DV this will soon change. We’ve dubbed this year “the year of the green manure” 100 years of taking off the land, we figure we’ll put something into it before we ask from it…. 60 acres of weeds and alfalfa to plow/disc under this year, we’ll look into a fall planting of alfalfa on the real tough ground for green manure again next season. Corn/sorghum maize and pumpkin patch will probably have to go on hold for next season.

Nothing will be finished, but hopefully in two weeks the place will be safe enough to encourage people to use our place as a rest area, and we’ll gather what interest there is and see what happens.
There are a few teams in the area by teamsters with lots of past experience, but the only utilization of teams we’ve seen and been told about in 50 mile radius is wagon trains/rides. Some teamsters have expressed interest, some are willing to come and work the land and do wagon rides for tourist for a price. I think they are waiting to see if I am full of talk or going to actually go forward with this.
I am hoping to have a team in the field working, and tourists can come out and ride in a wagon right beside the teams working in the field. For a donation, they can ride right on a piece of modified farm equipment for a once in a lifetime experience; Basically give them 15 minutes of draft powered farming on their way to 15 minutes at Yellowstone or Mt. Rushmore. We can “interview” those interested to come back in the off season for teamster training if they are interested. Hopefully train some horses to drive in the off season, nobody is doing that here….

Ideas and opportunities are endless, income from the endeavour are completely unknown. This year everything will be on a donation/self pay basis…. We are trying to simplify by trying to gain knowledge over everything else, and having faith that the pieces will come together. How exciting.

Partially finished website, http://www.fortcauseway.com

We bought some equipment at auction, I found some irony in unloading a fresno with a trackhoe. After selling our tractor, dump truck and float, ram pickup, and some construction equipment to finance us for the next couple months, we are eagerly hoping to sell the trackhoe this week to put us in business. or out of business. :confused: whatever, we’re on our way!

Kevin

[blue80]

Been a busy year as usual, lots to be thankful for, though of course nothing has gone as planned.

We sold all our excavating equipment, which has overall been a relief. Now we rent what we need when we need it and get by that way. Not even a tractor is left on our 80acres, so we have real encouragement.neccessity to use the team for everything.
We bought a third mare, Roma, a Shire Percheron 8 yr old who had never been in harness, but was “driving” her owners crazy who wanted her as a showy sporthorse. But they said, “she is way too lazy,” just doesn’t want “to go” Looked like a diamond in the ruff to me, so we bought her with the idea of putting three in the field and going to work. Then our best mare, Maude, died in an accident. So we didn’t get to work in the field much early, weeds got out of hand, my allergies were worse than ever, turns out it was probably the duvet on my bed. Yeah, laugh now…..
Roma is coming along great; strangely, the other mare and myself are the weak links, I believe.

We worked all summer trying to finish building our place so it wouldn’t be hanging over our head and would be at least salable if that’s what things come to.

Decided to do less roadside tourism and opened the upstairs of our place into a hostel instead, and put in a few RV hookups. My wife and I both travelled in Europe and Australia when we were single and younger, and the hostel type accomodation was a real blessing which enabled us to live learn and explore with low expenses. So we thought we’d try it here….

Got my first deer ever this fall, and got my first elk, packing and riding all over the Bighorn Mtns. We did all the butchering ourselves, and lots of canning too with all the vegetables our neighbours bring by.

52 homeschool kids and a few parents came by for a thanksgiving dinner and wagon ride last week. As an aside, these families turned out to be from numerous different beliefs and religions; Good fun nice to see how draft animals can unite a community for a day at least; again Roma better than one could expect.

Lots of once in a lifetime experiences, they just seem to happen every day.

Just want to also say I sure appreciate this forum and all the information that has been compiled which has helped us learn, explore options and make better informed decisions. Which just maybe means we just screw up a little less than we usually do:o

All the best, and have a great thanksgiving! (Although many of us know the real thanksgiving was last month;))

Kevin

[J-L]

You are only about 5 hours from me blue. That Worland country is some pretty good farm ground. Looks like you are getting ready to do some mechanicing with your pile of equipment. Sometimes that can be fun too.
I think your hostel idea sounds interesting, can you expound on it a little? How does it work?
Seems like there are more horses working on the west side of the state than your area and east. Where ever the farming is good, the tractor has completely taken over. Where there are more cows and more snow there are still horses working (usually feeding cattle).
I have a friend who farms up there around Worland. He’s a bigger farmer and very much into his big equipment. Last year his operating loan was $1.25 million dollars. I just don’t see the fun in that. Hard working and good man that he is, that is a very fundamental difference between he and I.
If you get to plowing and want to do a plow day or something, let me know. I know a few teamsters that might be able to come up and help.
I get up that way every so often and might have to look you folks up. I like the looks of your bay horse in the pictures by the way.

[blue80]

Hi JL, yeah just starting to work on some of the equipment, first on the list is the 12 ft. Oliver dump rake. Then the 2 row culitvator and 4 row corrugator. Some of the other pieces are just going to become picnic tables I think.

Don’t know where I heard it, but lately someone said that tractors took the fun out of farming. Having owned heavy equipment and run on and behind tractors for countless hrs for others I would have to agree. Not trying to knock tractors or those who use them, I just don’t yearn for high HP and high acreage…..

Regarding hostels and why we are trying this, the hostel model is basically that one rents a bed, and has access to the rest of the premises. So its not real North American where we seem to need our special space and separate bathroom. But its a nice option for those interested. Probably the best comparison is an easygoing bed and breakfast, with a full do it yourself kitchen/bbq and often a shared bathroom for several patrons. I want to farm, learn to grow, and offer different locally grown options. Expand horizons, including my own families. I don’t want the gubments help, and although nothing pencils out financially to make the enterprise work, the agritourism arm of the farm may very well be the key to the enterprise being viable. And I enjoy seeing people smile. The draft animals do that without me saying a word!
We needed a low overhead way to see if people are interested in stopping at our place and learning more about draft powered farming options and/or exploring the local fantastic outdoor recreation opportunities at low cost. I’m not interested in competing with the many dude ranches and resorts, rather would like to network with them to help travellers plan and enjoy their stay. I’d like to build some off grid ecocabins for rent for those who want their privacy at higher cost, but we’ll see….
Like last week three spelunkers stayed at the hostel. Turns out some of the best caving in the state is only miles away, I never knew. One guy owns a trucking company, one is a commercial pilot, one owns an electrical company. They are intrigued by the prospect of a profitable family draftpowered farm (our overall goal) something they have never even thought about. Over a couple evenings, we all learn a little from eachother and appreciate eachothers services. We’ll see if they come back, but I sure enjoyed meeting them.
When in Australia, I worked on a 4000 acre sheep and wheat/lupins ranch. It was the owner and me only. Big green equipment to pull the new “deep rippa” Big truck to haul the wheat 400 miles to the port….Always fixing and fueling.
Then I bought an old junker of a car and put a new engine in it and drove it around 3/4 of Australia with a guy from Alberta. We stayed at about 40 different hostels in 50 nights. Could never have afforded to do it otherwise. Met a lot of people with a lot of age diversity from a lot of countries with a lot of ideas. A different “kind” of people than you would meet at your conventional lodging. Most hostels were idea centers that listed tours, bars, churches, help wanted notices etc. etc. that were in the area. The most proactive thing was that these idea centers were all privately funded, mostly by families opening up their homes; a move away the corporate hotel type stay we have become accustomed to. As a silly analogy, a hostel is like driving down a state hwy and seeing the countryside with opportunities to stop and smell, where conventional hotel is like zooming down the interstate.
“Elderhostels” are a cool thing too, where people, predominantly retirees, actually pay to go and learn different skills. Google it, there are some cool ones out there.

A plow day would be fantastic, anywhere, with anyone.
Mostly because I don’t know anything, only ran a walking plow a little.
Our ground is quite heavy and hasn’t been plowed in years. I am worried about pulling the guts out of the animals…. I only have a new 14″ Pioneer walking plow but my team and I aren’t ready yet, have been working them 5-7 hrs a day again starting this week, and the ladies are just starting to work together as a team after the first few hrs. The bay mare is a rude jiggin fool and won’t operate without a buckback, and I don’t want to frustrate Roma who just doesn’t know better.
Been told that riding an implement accounts for 1/2 a horse a day. So I’ll feel best if I’m walking plowing with them. They’ll have their work cut out for them. Anyways, one day at a time they say?

Free hostel lodging here for DAP members, if you teach me something or tell me what I’m doing wrong.:D

Pic is Roma the 8 year mare new to harness this fall. She is built and loves to pull. I call her “ma” as the Ro is a little too close to whoa… And No offense mom, if you read this.:D

[J-L]

Thanks for the expanation. Sounds like a very good idea and I wish you guys luck with your operation. Might have to drop by some time.
Glad to hear of your luck hunting. We had some good luck this way and a freezer full of venison and sausages.
I don’t know about plowing your ground the first time. Could be a tough job with as much clay as there is around there and if it’s sodded in.
Do others fall seed alfalfa there? I know we can’t here but we are almost 2000′ higher in elevation and have quite a little wind that bares the ground off as well as a lot of late frost. We’ve always drilled alfalfa around the 1st of May with a nurse crop of oats.
Enjoyed reading your posts and good luck.

[blue80]

It’s been a boon to have the trackhoe in the past, done and traded a lot of work with local farmers, and so I try to get their take on how to do things. They are split. Some swear fall seeding, some swear spring only for alfalfa.
I’ve seen a few 100 acre stands planted, and I’m going with drilling alfalfa into barley stubble in early August with a few pounds of oats to reduce competition as the best option. Paying water rights and drainage fees, one can hardly “lose” a year with only an oat hay crop and if your gutsy a fall grazing while waiting for your alfalfa to establish…We only get 2 good cuttings here in the few years I’ve been. It’s min. $20-30.00 per acre whether you use the land or not….

I planning on going with garrison creeping foxtail on a large portion of our tillable acreage. Garrison likes all the water it can get (can stand 3 weeks under water without dying) where alfalfa is always trying to drown or burn out in flood irrigated. A couple local guys said they actually drown out the weeds during establishement, especially barley foxtail which is a huge problem here. Horse farmer in Riverton has not plowed his 300acre garrison ground in 30 years!
Garrison will create a nice turf in a few years and spreads by rhizome, it will give us one big hay crop and then lots of rotational grazing. Garrison has high nutrient value when in its early stages, good for saddle horses when its ripe, I’ll broacast a few pounds of alfalfa in certain areas from year to year to get a bit better protein hay for the drafts. With garrison grass I hope that there won’t be a rush to get all cut baled perfectly on time, which means its more flexible for the horses…. Also good steady market for it at higher prices than alfalfa here; If it is harvested with the seed on, cattle guys love to feed it in alkali wet, low spots, as the hoof action in frosty ground plants the garrison seed perfectly.
We are hoping to have a forage based farm to start, ideally some cattle, sheep, goats, turkeys on an intensive rotational program. Fall butcher and keep mostly only breeding stock for the winter. Ideally we’ll be vertically integrated to sell all our meat to tourists at a roadside BBQ stand.

This is as “simple” as I can get to start. Biggest problem this moment is I’ve dug through all the land to put in drainage, and hauled in well over 100 loads of draining gravel to backfill the pipe. So the land is no longer level, though the soil has settled down over 2 years. Ideally we have 4000 yds. of scraper work to do to get the spoil dirt and ditch banks from the last 80 years of ditch cleaning redistributed onto the land, compacted and levelled before we start with a long term sod like garrison. So maybe we’ll just start with an annual grass until I have $30 thousand to play with. Or deal with the spoil banks like everyone else. Except down in Worland, those good farmers have cleaned theirs up!
Something tells me my moneymaking construction days aren’t quite over:confused: But at least its not going to the latest cigarette boat…

Best, Kevin

[J-L]

There is a lot of the Garrison grass around here to. You have it right that when you cut it early it’s good feed. Wait ’til it’s 4 ton to the acre and it’s like feeding straw. Even at my elevation it can have a fair amount of regrowth and that is good pasture. My place has a few stands of the Creeping Meadow Foxtail variety. Not quite as water hungry and a little less yield, but better cow hay in my book.

[blue80]

Boat anchor and rope to get the round bales on, when I do it properly I can hand role them off… This bale ended up a little farther forward on the rack than I wanted, but the ladies needed and enjoy the work. We take a few breaks over 1000 ft. to correspond with the 200- 300 ft. ideal max. twitches I’ve read some of you recommend.

Started using a buckback through the v opening in the pole strap and under the bay and she is working far better than when I had the buckback over the hames.

Note the ducktape on the hames! akin to the saying, “if the women can’t find you handsome, they should at least find you handy!”

let me know what I’m doing wrong, I already see I’m throwin some slack:o
Kevin

[near horse]

@blue80 22419 wrote:

I planning on going with garrison creeping foxtail on a large portion of our tillable acreage. Garrison likes all the water it can get (can stand 3 weeks under water without dying) where alfalfa is always trying to drown or burn out in flood irrigated. A couple local guys said they actually drown out the weeds during establishement, especially barley foxtail which is a huge problem here. Horse farmer in Riverton has not plowed his 300acre garrison ground in 30 years!
Garrison will create a nice turf in a few years and spreads by rhizome, it will give us one big hay crop and then lots of rotational grazing. Garrison has high nutrient value when in its early stages, good for saddle horses when its ripe, I’ll broacast a few pounds of alfalfa in certain areas from year to year to get a bit better protein hay for the drafts. With garrison grass I hope that there won’t be a rush to get all cut baled perfectly on time, which means its more flexible for the horses…. Also good steady market for it at higher prices than alfalfa here; If it is harvested with the seed on, cattle guys love to feed it in alkali wet, low spots, as the hoof action in frosty ground plants the garrison seed perfectly.
Best, Kevin

Hi Kevin,

We have Garrison foxtail here too and, as you and Wes have said, it’s pretty tough stuff – grows in standing water and nearly indestructable even w/ heavy hoof traffic on muddy ground. The problem(s) we see are
1) it starts to head out while it’s in standing water when haying is still a far off thought so the quality is already dropping (I guess you could graze it during this time to try and keep it vegetative).
2) once it starts to get mature our cattle are not interested in eating it.

I’ve thought about going to meadow brome – rhizomatous grass, spreads well, good yields …..

As far as seeding alfalfa into the Garrison, where we are, the soil conditoins that are good for Garrison (wet cold feet) are not good for alfalfa (they don’t do well in standing water).

Just my experiences but do appreciate what you’re doing. Keep posting your progress.

[J-L]

We’ve used brome grass in the past. At one time (before the bad drought in ’02) We had 80 acres of brome/alfalfa. Great hay. Horses and cattle loved it. The ground we had it on was perfect for that, much sand and rock. Needs replanted now.

[blue80]

JL and near horse, thanks for the western grass expertise. I’m also looking at new triticale varities, also Italian ryegrass, both which a couple cattle guys have been growing. Anything green at this point will make me happy.

Been cold here, only a few days above freezing this month, so thought we’d better get mowing the fallow that was supposed to be plowed under last season. Pulled a high gear #9 out of a flowerbed and have about 30 acres of kocia weed down. Tough cutting, some of the stems are an inch thick.

12 ft. oliver Dump rake is fantastic, makes me feel like a king sittin there, making windrows of weeds to burn; once the neighbours corn gets combined, that is. Just my luck the wind will pick up just as I light a match:eek:

Not so bad working dawn till dusk this time of year!;) But I wonder whatever I did without my led headlamp before???

Best Christmas wishes to all!

Kevin

[J-L]

Looks good Kevin. I love raking hay. My rake is a little smaller than yours. You’d have a hard time doing it here, close to 2′ of snow on the ground.
I’ll bet those weeds are tough! It’d be like mowing willows.
As to the Triticale, I know they grow it over in the Cache Valley, UT area and that is a similar elevation to you guys. It may be a good crop for you. My neighbor tried it on the west side of the valley and it didn’t do well at 7200′.
I hear you on the green, haven’t seen that since Sept.
Nice pictures.

[blue80]

We had a great day yesterday. The older kids and I got 2400 lf of electrobraid fence done. Couldn’t have done it without draftpower! The long cold winter made something we don’t get, and don’t miss much-MUD. Didn’t really want to make a muddy mess, but with paying work starting next week, this just had to get done.
This worksled, not to be boastful but I have to say I am happy with, chains on front and rear so I can get myself out of situations I get into. I can stand in front or behind the rack depending what I’m doing. The frame is the motor mount off the snowplane we converted, the tool box/playset comes off in a couple seconds.

We’ve had a great winter, and I’ve had the opportunity to work with teams almost daily. I’ve trained and am training a couple teams for others, and we took on a couple wild percheron geldings that have melanoma warts. Experts say they may live normal for a long time, or not. So the price was really right, and the one pictured on the left has progressed a huge amount and is a blessing to have. His mate is on pasture treatment and groundwork only so far. His warts are bigger and his feet were bad, looks like he foundered a few months back….

We saw an horse expo ad at the Powell college in the paper a few months back, and called to see if there was any horse in harness demos. They said they called all over and couldn’t find anyone, so they invited me. I took our mares and had a great time, did a presentation, we did wagon rides in the parking lot, and dragged/drug?? the arena. We had a booth and had questionnaires to guage interest in draftpower and got some great feedback and interest, and they booked us to return at a primetime spot next year, so that is nice to look forward to.

Some snowmobilers stopped at the hostel and told us to get a listing on vrbo and trip advisor, we did that and have received a lot more interest in the hostel. Which is bittersweet, because I don’t like living in a hotel but agritourism sure will and is helping out our goals and dreams…

Hopefully get something to plant that will turn green in a few weeks. I hope. Because I cut most of that kocia field twice this winter, and have raked most of it twice, and I don’t know if I want to do that again.

Actually, if the bills are paid, I probably woudl like to do it again though worthwhile work might be more desirable.:D

Kevin

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