The Newfarm Forums

[krwizwork]

Greetings everyone!

This seems like such a friendly place, so I'll jump in here too...

Started this adventure about 8 years ago when I bought this place, worked full time and tried to fit the farm in around the edges. Not an easy path, but it seems to be the one that most people must tread for a while.

Last summer I started looking at horses for the motive power on the place. It costed out pretty well, and I like and understand horses, having grown up with them. Hadn't worked with drafts though, so I spent a lot of time reading up and researching, then I went out looking for a well-trained and older team of geldings. Found them in Ohio, and they are wonderful boys! Dick and Dan are Percherons, 17 hh, and all sweetness and power. They are a delight to work with and the more I ask of them, the more they are willing to give back. Can't imagine ever having that kind of relationship with a tractor...

I've also got the beginnings of a smaller team for when the boys are too old to do the heavy work, since they are 14 now and probably have another 5 years (or more) before they need to have lighter duty. The youngsters are a six-year old Haflinger gelding named Sonny (14.3 hh) and a yearling Haflinger Percheron cross filly named Sable (13 hh). Sable will probably be about the same size as Sonny when she finishes growing, at least that is what I'm hoping for, then she'll become my broodmare for the creation of smaller teams for the future on this place. The current showring style for purebred drafts is 18+ hh, and that is just too darned big for me to harness!

The farm is just under 50 acres and mostly tillable, but the land is hilly and highly erodible by USDA standards. So I had the fellow from USDA come out and help me mark out the contours. He's fascinated by the horses and organics and is very interested in how this all works out. I'll be doing 50' x 100' beds on alternate contours for the small grains and corn that I need for feed for the horses and chickens. Those are going out in the hayfield as an experiment. The row crops for the farmer's market are going on the only flat place on the farm - the horse paddock from this winter. The soil is good there and the horses have pounded out all of the weeds that used to grow there. For the summer, the horses are on rotational pasture and will have the paddock back in the winters. At least that is my rosy tinted theory. ;)

Planning on being as sustainable as possible, raising my own feed and hay for the animals and doing the farmer's market for the planned excess to bring in some cash. A CSA may be in the future, but I want to know what sells before I commit to the people who are interested. Maybe that isn't smart, but I've learned from past experience that I'd rather start slower than maximum so that I have room to adjust my trajectory if needed.

Just curious if anyone else is doing a lot of seed saving. I'll be starting with corn this year - bagging ears and such as described in Seed to Seed. Anyone have any advice? Seems that everyone used to know how to do this a few generations back, but there isn't much information on it out there anymore.

Off to harness the boys for some harrowing and re-seeding in the pasture since it is supposed to rain all week.

Don't know if this will be daily, but I'll do my best.

As ever,
Karen

[krwizwork]

Greetings again!

Well, the rain is going to hold off for another day. Need to plow some more garden beds and move the horses to the next rotational pasture.

Does anyone know how to get rid of groundhogs? I keep filling in their holes but that isn't working. It only slows them down a little... I'll try the hose today.

Worked with Sable yesterday. First time in the cross ties for grooming and hoof work. She did pretty well even though she was a little confused that no one was at her head. She kept trying to turn around to face me, but she did settle down and I'm pleased with her progress. She's getting shiny and black with most of her baby hair shed away now.

The big boys, Dick and Dan will be in the field again today. Spread a load of manure where I'm planning to plow and then do some plowing. The spreader wears them out a little, which is a great blessing since they do have some extra energy early in the day. They are wonderful, steady animals, but Dick has workaholic tendencies!

Heaven only knows what I'll turn up in the field today. I've found the weirdest things from the past owners in the fields... shoes, lengths of chain, old tarps, a horseshoe with cleats, plastic bottles from oil and antifreeze, old appliances (sheesh!). I guess that helps explain why I got such a good price on the place when I bought it. (sigh)

Off to work...

As ever,
Karen

[HilltopDaisy]

Hi Karen, thanks so much for letting us see a little bit of your life with the horses. Will you tell us more? Where are you located? Have you had your place long? Do you have much help? I'm absolutely spellbound!!

[krwizwork]

Taking a break, been tearing apart the rototiller to remove a large, uninvited rock! That is finally done, next thing is to plant the pear trees and the raspberry canes that arrived yesterday and have been soaking their roots since then. Thought I'd take a few minutes and answer your questions.

I'm in southwest Wisconsin, about 30 miles south of Madison. I've had my farm for about 8 years, bought the place just before it went into foreclosure in December 1997. Finally farming it without the interference of a full-time city job. So far it is just me and my husband on the place, and he is on the road a lot for his work, so mostly I'm on my own with the horses.

This morning's fun included worming the group (and they don't like it much) and some more training with Sable and Sunny. Introduced Sable to the bit and bridle today. She did very well, mouthed the bit some but didn't really fuss much.

Sonny got his first exposure to his harness. Didn't much care for the collar going over his head, so I reversed it and put it on upside down like I used to have to do with my Arabians since they are so wide across the eyes (collars are wider at the bottom) and turned it around at his throat. He didn't like that at all! The jingling mess of straps that is the harness got Sonny pretty excited, but he stood to be harnessed, ears going like wig-wag flags the whole time. When I put on the bridle he gave no fuss at all, he's used to a riding bridle, the only differences with a working harness bridle are the blinders and the overcheck. Didn't tighten the overcheck yet, but I did hook it up loosely. (Note to self: just put the collar on the right side up, it isn't worth the fuss to turn it around, and braid that mess of forelock - there is no way to sort out that pile of hair through the blindered bridle!) Sonny is a beautiful blonde sorrel, about the color of a new copper penny with a cream colored mane and tail. His tail is almost to the ground and his mane is more than three normal horses, forelock goes all the way to his nostrils - he's my hairy boy... Is it possible to post pictures here? Taking off the harness was a lot easier, and he stood just fine to take the collar off the right side up. He'll get used to it as time goes on. Probably should have taken him out for a ride to tire him out first, but there just aren't enough hours in the day today.

Off to plant again...

As ever,
Karen

[krwizwork]

Busy morning for the human today, so all the horses got to have a break and go straight outside after their breakfast. Today is the day I prepare for the Farmer's Market in Middleton in addition to all my other farm work.

Time to transplant the herbs and I may go ahead and put out the peas and lettuce as well. I think I'll wait another week or two for the tomatoes and peppers. Probably another week later I'll set out the squash. Just last year we had a hard freeze on Memorial Day... don't want to lose all that work by rushing to put things out!

Need to go and pick up some hay this afternoon. I was hoping to get my first batch in by now, but the weather isn't cooperating. I can see why my neighbors all say not to attempt haying until after the first of June.

As ever,
Karen

[krwizwork]

Farmers Market today. Started out misty and 60 degrees. A little rain, then drizzle the rest of the time. Kept some people away, but there were more vendors this week than last.

After everything was all packed up the sky opened up and it RAINED! A real frog-strangler along with some hail, tornado warnings and severe thunderstorm warnings for most of the night. Ahhh.... spring in Wisconsin.

Maybe tomorrow will dry out enough to get out with the boys and do some work. Everyone stayed in the barn today with the bad weather, so they'll have lots of energy tomorrow. If it is too soggy, I guess I'll start some more seedlings for replacements on lettuce and get the squashes started for transplanting in early June.

As ever,
Karen

[krwizwork]

Greetings again!

Busy days all in a row. Got a lot of seeds going and under humidity domes until they have their first leaves. Mesclun, Swiss Chard - Bright Lights (gosh that variety is pretty!), more Tomatoes - Quimbaya and Bush Goliath, more Peppers - Placido, Bush Beans - Jung's Tricolor Blend, Watermelon - Extra Early Sugar Baby and Yellow Doll, Luffa (don't laugh, they make great sponges and scrubbers!), Zucchini - Ronde de Nice, and bunching Fennel.

The sight of the seedlings poking their little heads out of the soil always gives me such a thrill. Even though I've seen it thousands of times, it still feels like a miracle to me.

Took the morning off and went to a Church Women's conference for some spiritual feeding that I really needed. Sometimes I get so involved in what I'm doing here that I need to get away and regain my perspective.

As ever,
Karen[/img]

[krwizwork]

Greetings again!

Busy days all in a row. Got a lot of seeds going and under humidity domes until they have their first leaves. Mesclun, Swiss Chard - Bright Lights (gosh that variety is pretty!), more Tomatoes - Quimbaya and Bush Goliath, more Peppers - Placido, Bush Beans - Jung's Tricolor Blend, Watermelon - Extra Early Sugar Baby and Yellow Doll, Luffa (don't laugh, they make great sponges and scrubbers!), Zucchini - Ronde de Nice, and bunching Fennel.

The sight of the seedlings poking their little heads out of the soil always gives me such a thrill. Even though I've seen it thousands of times, it still feels like a miracle to me.

Took the morning off and went to a Church Women's conference for some spiritual feeding that I really needed. Sometimes I get so involved in what I'm doing here that I need to get away and regain my perspective.

As ever,
Karen

[krwizwork]

Greetings again (sorry about the duplicate above!)

Windy and warm today - it was supposed to rain but it is a glorious, sunny day! The seeds have poked their heads up already, especially the Mesclun and the Bush Beans. More and more of them every time I check. Probably prick them out into their own little plugs when they get their first leaves.

Need to get the boys out and mow the hay soon. Even if I have to fork it onto the wagon to get it dry. Need to get a bed of field corn and soybeans put in for feeding. I'm trying to stay behind the rest of the local farmers on the field corn so that I don't have to do so much ear bagging for the pollen transfer - I'll have to ask Norm about the maturity on the hybrid he used. I don't have that information on my seeds, since I'm using stuff from my own storage for consumption in the house. Didn't use it up, so I'll save enough for the summer and plant the rest. Then I'll save seed for next year. Good thing I bought organic grain!

Might take Sonny out for a ride this afternoon to go looking around the fields. There is an appliance "graveyard" between two fields in an old gully that I'd like to reclaim before the weeds get too tall. It's about 3 acres and has been in grass since I bought the place, so it could be used right away since it is free of spraying for eight years now.

Always more to do than there is time to accomplish the tasks. But I do love this life!

As ever,
Karen

[krwizwork]

Greetings again,

Busy again today, sunny days are like that.

Got Sonny out and harnessed and took the plunge after we went for a little walk on the lead. Took him to the round pen and led him around some, working my way back to his hip, then I picked up the lines and hung the lead rope on the hames in case I needed to grab it in a hurry. Then I started from his hip again and gradually let out the lines until I was line driving him. He's a little confused between "haw" and "whoa", but that will come with practice. He did very well today, I was so proud of him! I'll probably hook him up so we practice with a log on the ground for the next few days. Need to find a singletree... hmmm. Then I'll hitch him with Dan so he can learn how to work as a part of a team, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Sable made me happy too. Put the collar and full harness on her today. The collar didn't bother her as much as it did Sonny. I tried something different, if I look through the collar at her, she was very willing to let me put it up to her as long as I held eye contact with her so she would know nothing bad was going to happen. She also did very well with the bridle. I put it all the way on, and she didn't fret at all. What a good girl she was today! She's going to need more time in the round pen than Sonny since she doesn't know what reins/lines are all about, but as fast as she is coming along now, I'm very encouraged!

Next step is to use a carrot to get them to reach for (and through) the collar. I did remember to braid up Sonny's forelock, boy did that make the job easier! I put a couple of hair rubberbands over one of the hame balls so that I have them handy.

Other than that, I've been busy making up things for the Farmer's Market on Thursday - anything that can be ready ahead of time sure helps!

As ever,
Karen

[krwizwork]

Greetings again,

Just finished preparing for the Farmer's Market tomorrow. More goodies than last week now that things are finally coming up. Did a batch of salad mix - wow - it is pretty stuff! Cool thing is, the leftovers come home with me for dinner! No more spending $ on those nasty predone bags at the grocery for me.

I'm pondering a hotbed and coldframe setup for salad stuff through the winter. Anyone done any of that? I have found information in the old farming books on digging a trench and filling it with horse manure for heat through the winter. My question is how long that heat will last, and should I put in heat cable in case things don't stay warm enough? Heaven knows I have plenty of horse manure to experiment with!

Another ponder (amazing what goes through my mind when I'm potting up transplants) about using the same thing for heating a greenhouse through the winter. Berm it on both sides and leave enough space for a tractor or Bobcat or whatever to put in the manure and take out the composted stuff in the spring. Maybe I should put this in writing and submit it to SARE. Anyone work with them yet?

New idea I'm testing at the Farmer's Market tomorrow. I'm calling them Salad Bowls and I've made up two types. Mesclun Bowl has three "greens" in it, one lettuce and two other types of stuff for more flavors. The other bowl is just four different types of lettuce. I'm using 8" pots while I test this, I might do larger ones if I can find the pots at a reasonable price. I'll let you know how it works out...

As ever,
Karen

[krwizwork]

Where does the time go?

Made hay last week... that is the short version. The real story is longer and far more interesting - drama, tragedy, joy and heartache.

Started mowing with Dick and Dan on the horsedrawn sickle bar mower (McCormick Deering Number 7 in case anyone was wondering), did great on the first round of the field. On the second round, things started going wrong. The boys did fine, but the mower kept plugging up and the sickle bar would stop and not want to restart. Sooooooo we called our neighbor farmer to mow part of the field for us. He did, and then we raked it on Tuesday, the rake performed flawlessly (thank goodness!) and the hay was ready to bale on Wednesday. Hooked up the baler and wagon and headed for the field. Norm came out to check that everything was set up right and off we went. First 60 bales went well, we hauled that back to the barn and stacked it. Back to the field and got about 40 more and things started going haywire in the baler. One of the knotters was snagging up and breaking strings. I pulled out bits of twine and cleared it out a few times and we'd bale 5 or so and then the knotter would snarl up again, then dump out two or three bales with bad strings and start up again. Same thing kept happening, so we gave it up after a while. Got about 120 bales in the barn, and brought in two wagonloads of loose hay, trying to beat the rain that was forecast. Gosh it is beautiful stuff...

Got rain - 2 inches or more all in one night - Friday if I remember right. So we lost about two or three rounds, including the double round at the edge. I guess I'll use that for mulch, so all is not lost after all.

The joy is the big stack of gorgeous hay in the barn, and the knowledge that we did it for the first time! Not all by ourselves, but pretty close and we learned so much! Glad we didn't cut the whole field at once, so we can keep learning as soon as that knotter is fixed. Although we are going to try a lighter weight of twine to see if that helps.

The Farmers Market has been an education as well. Clearing the fees and the gasoline to get there most weeks. Had another market manager scouting in the Middleton market, and he invited me to come to his market. I did it for the first time last Friday. So now I'm in two markets and so far, so good! Just wish the mesclun would hurry up and get bigger so I can cut more of it...

One thing that is working well for me at the Farmers Markets is the "Salad Bowl". Started out with some 8" pots from Home Depot, just to check the concept. They are selling pretty well at $5 each. I put in 4 types of greens, the all lettuce bowls sold out first. Mesclun bowls hold up better in the heat, but the greens are unfamiliar so I'm thinking of using my first bowls for "tasters" as the greens mature. Found some larger, shallower bowls for my next generation. 12" from Panterra and from Dillen. Different shapes but about the same price. The Home Depot pots ran about $3.65 each, these bowls run between $1.10 and $1.50 plus shipping. I figure I can hold the price at $5 and put more plants in the bowls so they can realistically produce more salad for the customers.

As ever,
Karen

[krwizwork]

Wow, time sure flies!

Well I'm still doing two Farmer's Markets each week. Doing reasonably well at both and learning a lot! Discovered that no one is doing succession planting, so I can come back with salad mix and sell it at $2 per bag with no competition now. Also doing very well with the Salad Bowl concept. Haven't sold much mesclun, so I'll probably use it as a spicy salad blend and see how that goes.

Did a partial second cutting of hay. Not much rain, but wanted to see if the equipment would work after all the service work and fiddling around. Also found a 9' mower conditioner and bought it. I'll use the boys to do other mowing - like pasture clipping and field roads. Their 5' mower would take too long to cut the hay right now. The best thing is that all the equipment worked! The knotter problem on the baler was solved by replacing a spring that hooks over the arm that sweeps the twine off the bills. Fiddled with everything else and thought, what the heck, let's replace that darn wobbly spring, and it worked! We were so thrilled that even though the ground wheel on the pick up bar fell off - we just laughed - we knew we could fix that, but by gum, the knotter is working! Maybe we are really nuts.... ;)

Planting lettuces like crazy - over 500 a couple weeks ago, and now that I'll be able to sell salad mix again at a decent price, I'll be planting even more. Seems that my niche at the markets is more in live plants than produce this year. I've learned that I have to plant a lot more to be able to have enough produce.

Sonny and Sable have had a break from training. I've been using the big boys in the cool of the day - early mornings - and by the time I'm done with them it is 90 degrees and 90 percent humidity, too hot for man or beast. Did take Sonny out for a ride in the woods the other day and he did beautifully. Working with Sable on basics as we go to and from the pasture each day. One of the other vendors at the market gave me some of his cull apples (Lodi drops already!) for the horses and they really enjoyed them!

Update on the mulch with ruined hay. It seems to be working beautifully! The only weeds coming through are where I didn't put the hay on very thick. Everytime I weed, I follow up with mulch hay and so far, so good, even though it has been very dry the plants are staying in very good shape.

Good to hear what everyone else is up to as well. We just keep on keeping on...

As ever,
Karen

[alec_bauserman]

Hey Karen

I just found this forum and Ive been going through your posts. Ive got 160 acres of hills and fields in WV and I was thinking about getting some draft horses to give me a hand. My mom is great with horses (she breeds and trains them) and Ive grown up around them since I was knee high. Could you tell me more about Dan and Dick? Do you know any working/behavioral differences between belgians and percherons? Ive been told draft mules are also worth looking into: low maintenance, hard-working, hybrid vigor, less vet visits, etc. How much did you get the two boys for? How long did it take them to adjust to you? Anything you can throw my way would be great.

Keep the updates coming!

Cheers
-Alec

[krwizwork]

Greetings Alec,

Happy to help if I can. I found Dick and Dan over on ruralheritage.com in their teams for sale section. 160 acres is a lot to handle with horses unless you have lots of help. I've read that 25 acres per horse is a good estimate of how many you'll need in good working condition. Drafts are very different than light horses (I grew up around Arabians and Thoroughbreds - and boy was I surprised!) and the temperament will take some getting used to. As far as behavioral differences, the horse people I've talked to say that Belgians are more willing to stand for long periods and aren't as excitable. Percherons tend to be more refined in looks from some Arabian blood in their background. Mules are something out of my experience entirely, but I've heard the same things you have. Some folks say that they are far more stubborn and will hold a grudge, but I can't confirm or deny that at all. There are also mule teams for sale on Rural Heritage.

For me, I figured that I have to look at them for a long time, so I chose what I liked the looks of best. Price will vary by how much training and the age of the team. Dick and Dan are 14 years old, beautifully trained, cost $6k for the team and that price included their harnesses. I've seen a lot of horses for more and a lot for less, so you have to do your homework. Temperament is key, farm work will require strenth, smarts and steadiness. For me, I wanted a team that was well trained, geldings and on the small side. I didn't get all I wanted, Dick and Dan are 17 hh, so I'm learning with them and will use Sonny and Sable to replace them in a year or two. Be sure to pick up their feet, Dick is a stinker about that (not mean, just makes me work for it) and wrestling with an animal that big is NOT a good time! They are wonderfully well trained and have done pretty much everything. They can go almost entirely by voice command since they have done some logging and it is very convenient to be able to tell them what to do and not have to go get the lines. They've also won a lot of plowing contests back in Ohio where they came from. I feel that they are well worth the price paid.

Best resources I've found are: Small Farmer's Journal, Rural Heritage magazine, books by L. R. Miller and Maury Telleen. Lynn Miller runs Small Farmer's Journal and his books are available through the magazine. Maury's magazine tends to be more for the showring crowd, so I don't take that one.

Hope that helps... just ask if you have more questions.

As ever,
Karen