The Beginning Farmer

Soccer came to an end last night, but things don’t look like they will be slowing down anytime soon. In fact I expect things will get even busier this summer as we tackle all the projects that need to be done and continue with our daily chores. As you can see from the picture on the right (you can click on the image to make it larger) the dexter herd is out in new grass and enjoying it. Although, the still like to come up to the short stuff and hang out in the cool of the morning it seems.

One thing about the tall grass is that it is nearly impossible to find a itty-bitty dexter calf that isn’t even knee high! Last night I spent about 30 minutes looking for him in the dark and finally found him about 10 yards on the other side of the fence just sleeping away in some bushes. This morning I couldn’t find him either and was sure that he was outside the fence again so I started wandering around and looking. I didn’t find him until I almost stepped on him!

And finally, here is a picture of our Hereford sow that looks like she is about ready to burst. She is due to farrow on June 6th so we are keeping a close eye on her. The good thing is that it isn’t hard to keep track of her because she only comes out of the hut a few times a day for water and food. I really can’t wait to see some little red Herefords bouncing around the farm!

Sorry for the late update, but now that soccer is done I should be able to get back on my normal schedule…

I don’t have a picture to show you of our sow living in her new digs, but I will get one soon. As with everything on the farm this project took a little longer than expected, but the main thing is that it is done and she still hasn’t farrowed yet. She seems to love the little hut because she has only come out a few times a day since I put it in there on Sunday, of course she looks like she is about ready to pop so that might have something to do with the fact that she likes laying around and hanging out in the hut.

The hut ended up being a very basic A-Frame that is eight feet long and seven feet wide at the base. There is a door in the front that I can close and latch if I need to check the pigs and want her out, or if it is cold and I want her in. The back as a drop down vent that I can open to get some of the warm air out and provide some air circulation. Other than those details the entire thing is just covered with 1/2″ treated plywood and it stays dry inside (I know because it rained quite a bit last night).

One thing that I already know I’ll probably change in the future is to put it on some skids that are a bit more substantial that pine 2×4’s and maybe even try to use oak instead of the pine period. I had also looked at the possibilities of making one of the sides hinged so I could have easy access to the pigs, but with the materials that I had at the time I didn’t like any of my options.

The great thing about this design is that I can use it as a test. I can see what works and doesn’t work and then I can make whatever improvements I need to make on the next one. Now, all I have to do is wait for some pigs to be born … we just keep checking.

They say a picture is worth 1,000 words. Well, that is the case today because this picture tells it all. The first little Dexter calf was born on Stoneyfield farm sometime late Saturday night and everyone is doing wonderful.

When I went out to do chores Sunday morning before church I found all the cows up waiting for some water … all the cows except for one that is. On Friday I had noticed that our newest cow (that came with the bull from Nebraska) was really starting to bag up and she looked like she would be calving soon. I’m glad to say that I was correct in my assumption, because I found them down in the valley just hanging out and enjoying some nice mother/son time.

If all went well last year we should be coming up on some more calves in the near future, but I sometimes wonder how many cows our previous bull settled. We will see for sure in the next month or two. Not exactly the schedule I wanted to keep, but we will get things back on track over time.

Tomorrow I’ll share an update on the hog hut, and I bet I’ll have some pig news soon as well!

Just to prove the point that I have made many times on this blog, that I can’t do it alone, here are a couple pictures showing some recent work being done on the farm. In the first picture you see one of our great church friends helping till the front yard so it could be seeded to grass. While he was here he also tilled up the garden and now we have plants starting to poke through the dirt. In the second picture you can see my helpers hard at work on the hog hut with me. I only had a few minutes to work in between soccer practice and doing the opening prayer at the races, but my helpers helped make the most of my time! Thank goodness for those willing to help out…

From time to time people drop me a note and let me know that they enjoy the blog and share some of their expertise with me. It is wonderful to hear words of encouragement, but it is even more exciting when I get to hear about what other people around the country are doing or want to do. Thank you so much for the e-mails and comments and keep them coming! Lately I have collected a few new links that I wanted to bring to your attention and that I will place over in my links section.

• The Farmers Forum: I want to encourage you to visit this site that our blog friends down at Nature’s Harmony Farm started. It kicked off with a lot of action and a wealth of information, but I must confess that I have neglected it for a while now. So, go check it out and let’s make use of the amazing amount of information that can be gleaned from a forum full of farmers.
• Yeoman Lawyer: Yeoman is a frequent commenter on this blog and always is very encouraging and insightful. Lately he has also been rather bloggy! The topics on his blog don’t all have to do with agriculture in a specific sense, but I think they are all applicable. Also, be sure to check out his post about Victory Garden posters!
• The Yeoman Farmer: Don’t get this blog confused with the previous one, but it is a great blog to check out by a farmer who is living out many of the ideals of Thomas Jefferson’s “Yeoman Farmer”. Lots of great posts about life on the farm and life in general.

Are there any other links or blogs that generally deal with agricultural that you check out daily? I would love to hear about them!

I realize that probably not to many readers of this blog have an iPhone (although I would take one if anybody is donating them … just think how much more blogging I could do then), but for a few days now I have noticed that the iPhone application Locavore 1.01 was the App Store pick of the week last week. If you don’t follow the whole iPhone/App Store world this basically means that someone at Apple has picked out this little program to highlight at their App Store.

As far as I can tell the Locavore application works best with the iPhone at the moment because of it’s GPS requirement, but it is a pretty cool little application and I think it says a lot about the mainstreaming of eating local. Of course you can use it with your iPod Touch, but it won’t be able to tell your location and you will just have to search for things in your area.

What this little program can do (with the help of your iPhone) is let you know what things are in season near you, what is coming into season, where a local farmers market is, and even links to Epicurious receipes (it seems like there was a post about his over on the Epi-Log). If nothing else I think it gives some more publicity to the local food movement and I think that is a good thing.

Now, if only I could find a way to get an iPhone without going broke 😉

**Also, be sure to check out yesterdays comments for a great response from Jim Gerrish. I am so thankful that he has taken the time to share on the blog!**

Way back in November of 2007 I wrote a couple of posts on Ultra High Density Grazing (post one and post two) and mentioned the work of Greg Judy and Jim Gerrish. I have to admit that I was and still am equally amazed and interested in the idea of Ultra High Density Grazing and all of the things that go along with it. But, the other thing that I am willing to admit is that I don’t have a very good understanding of the methods, terminology, and everything else. Thankfully there is a thing such as Google and also wonderful people such as Mr. Gerrish who are willing to take some time to set me straight!

Yesterday I received an e-mail from Mr. Gerrish that helped me understand a few things. Here is a sample of what he wrote:

“The 2000 to 8000 lb per acre I was referring to is the standing forage yield. Basically 1 to 4 tons per acre of standing stockpiled forage.”

“We generally graze winter stockpiled forage at a stock density of 120-140,000 lb-liveweight/acre with daily moves. On really heavy stockpile, we’ll occasionally break 200,000 lb liveweight/acre. Greg [Judy] usually moves three or four times per day. His reference to 500,000 lb liveweight/acre stock density is an instantaneous measure. If he moves 3x daily, the 24-hr stock density (the only way to accurately relate animal needs to forage supply) is 166,667 lb/acre. If he moves four times daily, the 24-hr stock density is 125,000 lb/acre. We are basically grazing at the same carrying capacity and 24-hr stock density. He does it with multiple moves each day. I do it with a single move (basic laziness on my part!).”

“We usually graze 300-500 cows in the winter and our daily chore time is about 25 minutes. That chore consists of taking down one 1000 ft section of polybraid and leapfrogging it ahead for the next day’s move.”

That helped me understand what he is doing a lot, and it has given me a lot of encouragement in what we are hoping to do. Hopefully this is something we can work towords. In fact is something that I started doing with our 5 heifers this morning because I wanted to clip the grass really short in the area where we are going to be building a shed. The mower isn’t going yet, so I might as well use cow power and not waste the grass!

Any good book recommendations on this subject that you have read? I would love to hear them…

I’ve probably said it over 100 times on this blog, but sometimes things don’t always go as you plan! I had planned to get the hog hut done on Saturday and have everything ready to go by Sunday at the latest. But, sometimes things just don’t go together as planned and then sometimes it starts raining and you don’t have a shed. Which is all to say, I don’t have the A-Frame hog hut done yet, but I’m getting dangerously close! All that is left to do is attach the plywood, the hardware (hinges, latches, etc.), and put it out with the momma-to-be.

I ended going up with the plain A-Frame design pictured above (and linked here) for a couple of reasons. First of all, it is a plan from the 1930’s so it is something that is tried and true and still in use today. That must mean it works alright. Secondly, I decided to try this one first because it was easier to build. I had hoped to build the E-Hut style, but it is a little more involved and I wanted to make sure that I had materials that would last when I built one that took that amount of time.

This A-Frame looks like it will serve its purpose well though. I have followed the basic dimensions of the design, although I have made a few changes because I am using plywood for the covering instead of barn boards. Also, I have only put a pig door in one end, but I will have upper vents on both ends, and I will be able to lift one of the sides (I think) in order to get inside more easily to process the pigs.

Once it stops raining and I finish things up I will post some pictures.

In honor of Memorial Day today I found this very short video on Victory Gardens. You can read more about Victory Gardens on Wikipedia, but if you have any historical facts and on them I would love to hear them!